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Sixty Days in Europe 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/sixtydaysineuropOOrees 




MRS. REES. 




MR. REES. 



Sixty Days In Europe 



AND 



What We Saw There 



BY THOMAS REES 

Publisher of The Illinois State Register 
Author SpainVLost Jewels 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 



Published by 

THE STATE REGISTER COMPANY 

Springfield, Illinois 




my 8 1308 

J jiJt;SSr> ,4- AXc. Wu 

I .00 HY 8. r 



Copyright 

By Thomas Rees 

1908 









DEDICATORY. 



To Henry W. Clendenin, 

with whom 

1 have been intimately associated 

many years 

and whom to know long is to 

love much, 

this volume is respectfully 

inscribed. 



JUST A WORD 



It seems to be necessary in issuing a new book to give 
some reason for its publication. 

This book is intended to convey an idea of what can be 
seen in Europe in the time indicated in its title while traveling 
by the ordinary methods, and with a fair degree of comfort, 
and covers a number of what seem to us very interesting 
subjects. 

It follows a similar work issued one year previous covering 
a trip through Cuba and Mexico, called "Spain's Lost Jewels," 
and which was so kindly received that the writer is encouraged 
to this second effort in the line of book making. 

Anyone contemplating a trip to Europe should allow at 
least two months for travel and sightseeing between the time 
of his landing and departure from the other side. This is 
hardly enough, but adding to this the time in getting started 
and crossing the ocean both ways, makes nearly three months, 
which is about as long a period as the ordinary business man 
feels like devoting to one season's vacation. 

Having this amount of time at our disposal, we followed 
the route indicated in these letters, and, in looking back, we 
hardly see how we could have done better unless we had taken 
more time. But if we had, the book would have probably 
been too big. 



THE LINE OF TRAVEL 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 17. 
Across the Ocean — Wind and Waves — A World in Itself — Daily 
Routine — The Azores — Gibraltar — The Mediterranean — A 
Dance — Captain's Dinner. 



CHAPTER II. 
Page 33. 

Naples — Ordeal of Landing — Experiences — Live in the Open — ■ 
Cab Service — Eye for the Picturesque — Up Mount Ve- 
suvius. 



CHAPTER III. 
Page 50. 

Island of Capri — An Ideal Home — Sorrento — Ruins of Pompeii — ■ 
Recent Destruction — Virgil's Tomb. 



CHAPTER IV. 
Page 62. 

In Rome — Ancient History — The New Era — St. Peter's Church — 
The Vatican — Its Works of Art. 



CHAPTER V. ~ 
Page 73. 

San Giovanni — Making Mosaic — The Sacred Steps — Santa 
Maria — The Pantheon — St. Paul's — The Catacombs — Grew- 
some decorations. 

11 



CHAPTER VI. 
Page 83. 

The Stores of Rome — The King — The Forum — Rome's Ruins — 
Keats and Shelley — The Dying Gaul — The Coliseum — The 
Grandest Ruin. 



CHAPTER VII. 
Page 93. 

Florence — Work of the Old Masters — Feeding the Pigeons — 

More Works of Art — Royal Collection — Ponte Vecchio — 
"Variegated Cathedral — Savonarola. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Page 105. 

Venice — The Rialto — Bridge of Sighs — A Few Streets — The 
Campanile — Napoleon — Churches — Gondolas and Gondoliers 
— Grand Canal — Don Carlos — Farewell to Venice. 



CHAPTER IX. 
Page 121. 

Milan — Old Time Relics — A Great Cemetery — How About It- 
The Cathedral of Milan — The Last Supper. 



CHAPTER X. 

Page 136. 

Railroads of Italy — Hotels — Italian Money — Anglo-Italian Sign 
Language — On Lake Como — Meeting Old Friends. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Page 148. 

Into Switzerland — A Traveling Companion — Music on the 

Water — Crossing the Alps — The St. Gothard Railway and 

Tunnel. 

12 



CHAPTER XII. 
Page 158. 
On Lake Lucerne — Story of William Tell — City of Lucerne — A 
Good Place to Rest — Lion of Lucerne — The Great Organ — 
Where Dogs Work. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Page 172. 

Travelers by Classes — A Study of Skulls — Cog Railway — A 
Lake Ride — A Swiss Town — A New Game — A Cave and a 
River — Old Castles. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Page 185. 

The Lauterbrunnen Valley — Scaling the Alps — How the Trip is 
Made — Great Tunnels — Easy for the Traveler — Among the 
Clouds — Down to Earth. 



CHAPTER XV. 
Page 194. 
Capital of Switzerland — Odd and Good Public Works — The 
Bears — Other Animals — Dogs and Women Work — Switzer- 
land — The Government — History, etc. — Its Four Great 
Rivers. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Page 209. 

Dance of Death — Invading Germany — Alsace-Lorraine — Ger- 
many a Republic — Strassburg — Germany's Great Army — 
The Old Cathedral — The Great Clock. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Page 222. 

Old Heidelberg — The University — Double-Headed Church — The 
Old Castle — Rig Wine Cask — The California Tree — Mainz — 
Gutenberg. 

13 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
Page 236 

Down the Rhine — The Mascot Goat— Great Bridges — Old Castles 
— Legends — Emperor's Castles — Vineyards — National Monu- 
ment — City of Cologne — A Hungarian Orchestra — A Welsh 
Rarebit. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Page 258. 

Among the Dutch — Dikes and Canals — Old Amsterdam — Rem- 
brandt — Cutting Diamonds — Country Houses — The Cheese — 
The Artists' Mecca — On the Canal — The Hague — A Holland 
Hotel — Seaside Resort. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Page 286. 

Belgium — Brussels, the Capital — Expensive Structures — The 
Stony Streets — The Flower Parade — Hotels and Cafes — The 
Crazy Man's Gallery — Battle of "Waterloo. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
Page 299. 

Paris — Busy Streets — Hotel Experiences — Eiffel Tower — Grand 
Panorama — Glimpse of the Past — The Louvre — Venus de 
Milo — The Trocadero — St. Mark's Horses — Jeanne d'Arc. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
Page 318. 

The Tuileries — Place de la Concorde — Champs-Elysees — Arch 
de Triomphe — Vendome Column — Washington — The Made- 
leine — The Bastile — Ratified — Seine — St. Cloud — Grand 
Opera — Paris Gowns. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
Page 343. 
The Bones of Three Millions — The Pantheon — Napoleon's Tomb 
— An Old Love Story — The Grand Prix — Automobiling 
Around Paris — Versailles — Good -Bye to Paris. 

14 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
Page 364. 

In London — Immensity of City — Charing Cross — Great Bridges 
— Well Known Streets — 'Bus Drivers — Breaking Into Parlia- 
ment. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
Page 378. 

St. Paul's Cathedral — The Bank of London — Tuppence and 
Threppence — My Father's House — Westminster Abbey — 
Hyde Park and Kensington — Old Curiosity Shop — London 
Theatres. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
Page 393. 

The Tower of London — Old Armor — Bouquets of Bayonets — The 
British Museum — Mark Twain — The Thames — Windsor 
Castle — The Captain — Aye, 'Tis a Dream. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
Page 408. 

In Ireland — Dublin — Some Churches — Tom Moore — Balfe — Dub- 
lin and Killarney — Gap of Dunloe — Lakes of Killarney — 
Coaching in Ireland. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Page 425. 
City of Cork — Irish Wit — Blarney Castle — Shandon Bells — Pood 
for Thought — The Trouble With Ireland — Looking Forward 
— A Jolly Farewell — Homeward Bound — The End. 



15 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 

Mr. and Mrs. Rees 1 ^ 

The Bay of Naples 32 ■/ 

Ruins of Pompeii 48 - 

Coliseum of Rome 80 / 

Forum of Rome 96 ' 

Rialto in Venice 112 

Cathedral of Milan 128 

Lion of Lucerne 160 

Girls of Strassburg 208 

Bismarck Monument, Cologne 256 

Marken in Holland 272 

Tuileries Garden in Paris 320 

London Bridge 368 

Poets Corner, "Westminster Abbey 384 

Irish Jaunting Car 416 

Blarney Castle near Cork 432 



16 



Chapter 



ACROSS THE OCEAN 

We have been on the ocean a week and I am be- 
ginning to wonder why the Lord made the ocean so big 
and wide, with so much wind and such great waves. 

It has also occurred to me that there are many peo- 
ple who may never have taken an ocean trip and that 
they may be interested in some of the details that go to 
make up a voyage across the Atlantic. 

We left New York on the good ship "Moltke" of 
the Hamburg-American line, on Thursday afternoon, 
April 23, for the port of Naples, Italy, on the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, 4,230 miles from New York. There is only 
one stop on the way and that is at Gibraltar, nearly ten 
days after leaving New York. 

The departure of an ocean liner is a great event. 
I had often read of the starting of a vessel for Europe, 
but having never been an actual passenger or partici- 
pant in the scene, was never very much impressed. But 
nothing that I have ever read or can write here will fitly 
describe the intensity of the occasion. 

The boat on which we sailed carried, of all classes, 
about six hundred passengers, with a crew of perhaps 
half as many more, or say, about one thousand all told, 

17 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

and it seemed that nearly everyone had one or more 
friends at the pier to bid them good-bye, so that the 
assemblage presented a wonderfully animated lot of peo- 
ple on the pier and on the boat. There were tears, talk 
and laughter, and a thousand occurrences and evidences 
of affection, each of which, if woven into a story, would 
make a chapter. 

When the whistle blew as a sign for leaving, all 
visitors were ordered ashore, and the evidences of joy 
and sorrow were the more intense. There were two fel- 
lows, hard looking characters, shoved aboard just as the 
boat was about to leave. They had neither wraps nor 
baggage and were probably being sent back because they 
had not been allowed entry. They were directed to go 
to the steerage, but they were surly and objected. One 
of them stepped out on the gangway connected with the 
vessel to go ashore. He was opposed by the officers 
guarding the entry, but he was a husky fellow and, after 
a short struggle, came out victorious, broke through the 
guards and disappeared through the dense crowd on the 
pier. 

There was the usual belated passenger. Just as 
the stage was being hauled in, a tall man with a kodak 
in one hand and a big silver-trimmed flask in the other 
landed on the deck as though shot from a cannon. The 
stage was being hauled away when, from over the heads 
of all, came his baggage consisting of a big roll of 
steamer rugs and a big fat suit-case. The steamer was 
in motion by this time and the baggage came down as 
though it had been thrown from the top of a sky- 
scraper. 

I never saw so many flowers in my life as were 

18 



THE FIRST DINNER 

given the departing travelers. Great boxes of them, 
from all parts of the country, and baskets of fruit 
banked up all the passageways and almost filled the 
rooms. Then there were letters and telegrams until 
the main office looked like a branch office of the New 
York postoffice. They were all loving tributes from the 
dear ones left behind. "Evidences of sentiment," you 
might say; " only evidences of sentiment," and yet it 
is these evidences that make the bright spots in life. 
Yes, they are the sunlight of life and give to life the 
same grand, natural growth that the sunlight of heaven 
gives to the flowers and plants of the field. 

THE FIRST DINNER 

We were soon out in the ocean when a bugle call 
for dinner summoned us to the dining room. Though I 
should live many years, which I hope to do, the view of 
that great banquet hall will never be effaced. The 
dining saloon is nearly seventy feet square, and the 
tables were literally burdened with flowers through 
which the glass and china shone like crystal. 

The two hundred and forty-four passengers that 
sat down all looked as happy as could be, and it was 
a glorious sight. At the head of the center table sat 
a big, fat, jolly "Dutch" captain with big whiskers 
and dressed in blue and gold lace. He appeared as 
though he might be impersonating King Gambrinus at 
a Schutzenfest. There were other officers in uniforms 
and seventy-five waiters with blue jackets and brass 
buttons. It looked as though we were being served by 
Emperor "William's whole army in full regalia, while 
the popping of corks from bottles of Apollinaris and 
champagne sounded like a battle. 

19 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

WIND AND WAVES 

"The storm, is on the ocean, 

Don't you hear the winds that roar, Bill, 
While we are safe on ship, 

Don't you pity them on shore, Bill?" 

Alas and alack, that the good things of life are 
so short of duration, and that golden apples turn to 
ashes on our lips. 

It is nearly thirty miles from the ship docks of 
New York down through the harbor and out onto the 
open sea, and that is the part of this trip that has 
been described in the foregoing part of this letter. 

Just about the time we got half through this great 
dinner, we passed over the bar and were out on the 
real ocean. There was a considerable storm at the 
time and before we had finished that first meal the 
ship began to wobble and lunge in a manner that was 
very uncomfortable. Pretty soon away went a vase of 
flowers and then another, until it looked as though a 
cyclone had struck a rose-bed. Some people never 
stopped to see the end of that first meal and it was 
several days before they got back to another. 

Next morning the breakfast table was divided off 
into little pens with little fences to keep things from 
sliding off the table. Each passenger ate out of his 
own little pen and these frames were kept on the tables 
for two days, during which time the storm prevailed. 
The tables when divided off looked like a minature 
model of the Chicago stock yards, but the absence of 
the passengers for the next several meals made it seem 
as though the live stock business had suffered a de- 
cline. At the end of two or three days the weather 
became ideal, although some high winds continued, and 

20 



A WORLD IN ITSELF 

one by one the people returned at mealtime to their 
places at the tables. 

It is peculiar how the winds and the waves can 
toss a great ship at their will. The ship we are on 
is neither one of the largest nor one of the smallest. 
It is five hundred and twenty-five feet long, about 
seventy feet beam, measuring crosswise as beams were 
formerly used in building wooden ships, and has a 
tonnage of twelve thousand five hundred. The largest 
ships are seven hundred feet long, about seventy-five 
feet wide and have a rated tonnage of double what this 
ship has, while a number of the smaller boats in the 
Atlantic trade are not over two-thirds as large as this 
one. 

Ordinarily, if loaded the same, the larger the boat 
the smoother it floats, but none of them can defy the 
power of the deep, and this one seems as responsive to 
the waves as a cork would be floating in a tub of water. 
Some of the waves have been twenty-five or thirty 
feet high, and the variation in the boat from end to 
end, at times, seems almost that much. When the waves 
are so high, the spray dashes over the bow, making the 
steerage passengers scurry to their quarters. 

A WORLD IN ITSELF 

Perhaps this letter seems a litttle elementary; but 
those who have traveled on the ocean must remember 
that there are many people in the United States who 
are not in the habit of making sea voyages and this is 
written more especially for them. 

This ship, in fact every great ship, is a little world 
in itself. "We have several communities; the first cabin 

21 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

passengers, the second cabin passengers, the steerage 
passengers, the upper officers, the members of the crew, 
the sailors, the cooks, etc. 

"We have a printing office on board. Musical pro- 
grammes and menu cards are printed daily. 

A wireless telegraph station gathers the news of 
the world and a daily paper is issued each evening. 
Other ships on the ocean are equipped with wireless 
telegraphic stations and an exchange of greetings is 
kept up. Ships are passed at close range and we do not 
seem so far out or off the world as might be imagined. 

THE DAILY ROUTINE 

The daily routine is as follows : 

At seven a little German air, the words of which 
are "Arise from slumber and greet the morn," or 
something of that sort, is played upon a horn on each 
deck of the steamer. Then a bugle call for breakfast 
sounds at 7 :45. Breakfast is served from 8 o 'clock to 
10 a. m. At 11 o'clock bouillon is served on the outer 
deck. Lunch is from 1 to 3 o'clock. At 4 o'clock tea, 
cakes, etc., are served on the deck, and dinner, a ten 
course affair, with finest of viands, is served at 7, lasting 
until 8 :30 p. m. ; a musical programme being rendered in 
the meantime. 

During the forenoon there is a band concert on the 
outer deck. Salt water bathing and a gymnasium in 
which there are artificial horses, camels, rolling ma- 
chines, etc., to rub the back and loosen all the joints, 
use up a great deal of the time, and one day after 
another floats by and is gone altogether too quickly. 

Those who are not so active wrap themselves in 
steamer rugs, so-called, but in reality striped horse 

22 



THE AZORES 

blankets, and lay themselves out in long, double- jointed 
deck chairs and lazily sleep the hours away. When you 
can't help it it is surprising how much time you can 
consume doing nothing. 

There are a number of distinguished people on 
board, but they don't seem to be any better off than 
the rest of us. 

THE AZORES 

When we were six days away from the land we 
came in sight of the Azores, and it would be hard to 
imagine anything more enchanting. The several islands 
that are scattered over a distance of something more 
than two hundred miles are all of the same general na- 
ture. They rise precipitously from the water, some as 
high as a mile and a half, with rugged stone bases 
washed by the waves. 

They are cultivated in little irregular fields, each 
of a different shade of green or natural earth, and 
divided by hedge fences of some kind. While it is dan- 
gerous for the ship to approach too close, with marine 
glasses people can be seen in the streets of the cities or 
villages and ox-teams can be seen dragging the plows in 
the fields. 

The little farms seem to hang on the sides of the 
hills and are so odd and irregularly shaped that they 
are wonderfully interesting. The villages, of which there 
are many, are made up of little red houses with red tile 
roofs, so white and quaint that they seem like fairy or 
toy houses and among them are palm trees and pine- 
apple gardens covered with canvas. One of the cities 
has a population of about 18,000 and has several fac- 
tories and a railroad in operation. In connection with 

23 



f 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

several of the smaller villages are huge four-armed 
wind mills, like those always shown in pictures of Hol- 
land, which stand on the highest knolls and cut the air 
in a vigorous manner. 

I never saw ordinary earth that looked so much 
like an enchanted habitation as those islands appeared 
from our boat. We passed them all without making 
a landing, which was just as well, for perhaps if we 
had stopped and found that they were like other parts 
of our dear old world, the spell might have been broken 
and the charm dispelled. As it is now, we will always 
have a green spot in our memory for those beautiful 
islands of the far-away sea. 

To-morrow at early dawn we will land at Gibraltar, 
and the boat's engines that have kept up a continuous 
chug for ten days will take their first rest and we will 
tread a foreign soil, way across the big, wide sea. 
GIBRALTAR 

When I left off on my last letter we were ap- 
proaching Gibraltar. Since then we have landed at 
that famous point, have completed the trip through the 
Mediterranean, usually referred to by writers as the 
"Blue Mediterranean," and are ready to continue our 
sight-seeing in Naples, Pompeii and the Island of Capri. 

Gibraltar has been described so often that any 
further description of the place seems unnecessary, and 
yet one cannot pass there without having something to 
say about it. 

The most remarkable thing about Gibraltar to the 
visitor is the fact that it seems to be wrong end to. 
Most of the pictures of the rock show a high promon- 
tory tapering away down to the sea, and I presume 

24 



GIBRALTAR 

ninety-nine people out of each hundred imagine that it 
presents the main front in the direction of the strait 
of Gibraltar, which it commands. But this is a mistake. 
The front toward the open water is the lower portion 
of the rock, and the pictures are taken from the land 
side across a body of water known as Gibraltar Bay. 

Another thing about the pictures of Gibraltar not 
generally known is that the famous picture of the rock 
used by a certain insurance company as an advertise- 
ment is not like the rock itself, but is a modification 
or rather an accentuated picture of the same and is 
copyrighted. There is on board our ship a well known 
advertising agent of New York who handles a large 
amount of the insurance advertising and in whose office 
this picture was originated and the copyright secured. 

No matter about the picture, the rock comes up to 
the expectations of any reasonable person and is a won- 
derfully strategic position, and England exhibited great 
foresight in getting it away from the Spaniards and 
has exercised equal wisdom in holding it all these many 
years. 

It is the extreme south point of Spain and logically 
should be a Spanish possession, and did belong to the 
Spaniards until 1704. Like many other things which 
Spain has owned, it was undervalued and neglected. 
In the year mentioned above the fortifications had gone 
almost to ruin and the place was garrisoned by about 
one hundred men. Then an English fleet appeared on 
the scene. It evidently came unexpectedly. There was 
no telegraph, either wire or wireless, in those days. 
After a short struggle, and before Spain knew it, Gib- 
raltar was in possession of the English and has remained 

25 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

there ever since. During all that time it has com- 
manded the traffic of the Mediterranean, and is a greater 
power in Spain than Spain itself. The Spaniards have 
made various attempts to recapture it, notably in 1727, 
1779 and 1782, but every attempt has proved and will 
prove a failure. I think there are not enough men, 
guns or powder in all of Spain to make an impression 
on Gibraltar. It is lost to Spain and lost forever. 

A very pretty story is told in connection with the 
capture of this stronghold by the English. "When the 
battle was over and the English flag was floating over 
the ramparts, it was discovered that the Queen of Spain 
was quartered in the fortress. The English commander 
offered to allow her to descend and depart. She re- 
turned word that while the English were in possession 
she had not surrendered and would not leave the fort 
alive until the flag of Spain floated over it. The Eng- 
lish commander, being a gallant gentleman, ordered the 
English flag to be pulled down and the Spanish flag to 
be hoisted, and that all pay respect to her majesty as 
she came down from the stronghold never to return. 

The rock rises from the sea, removed at least a mile 
from the high lands bordering the strait. It is nearly 
surrounded by water and is between eleven and twelve 
hundred feet high. It is full of secret passages and 
caverns, hewn out of the solid rock, and is full from 
top to bottom of guns and ammunition. The sides are 
perforated with port holes and the mouths of cannon 
point therefrom in all directions. It is the 
greatest stronghold in the world and its transfer to the 
English was an incalculable loss to Spain. 

Visitors are allowed and welcome to visit certain 

26 



GIBRALTAR 

parts of the fort, but there are inner recesses where 
no one is allowed to go except certain English officers. 

It is said and it is safe to assume that there are 
supplies and ammunition enough to maintain a siege 
for many months. 

Against the base of the rock rests a picturesque 
old town of 20,000 population with its streets one 
above another. The houses have many porches and 
galleries, and, as they tower one above the other, it 
looks as though the town had been set up on edge to 
present the most beautiful picture possible. A drop- 
curtain for a theater could not be more effective than 
Gibraltar as seen from the bay, which is the first glimpse 
the ocean traveler gets. 

"When you enter the town you find it is more odd 
and picturesque than it appeared from the steamer. 
It is a remarkable combination of architecture of all 
ages and all nationalities, the Spanish and Moorish 
predominating. There are walls, forts and parapets, 
bastions, barracks and fortresses. The streets are quaint 
and irregular, narrow, up and down and full of all 
kinds of people, who are dressed in clothing of almost 
every nationality, from the picturesque costume of the 
Moors to the wonderful creations of the Paris milliners. 
There are people from all nations and costumes of 
every description, and among all there are 6,000 of 
King Edward's troops with their jaunty uniforms. 
There are military equipages almost everywhere, and 
the bay is full of gunboats of all classes. There are 
beautiful parks full of lovely flowers. Ripe straw- 
berries, beautiful bouquets and a hundred other things 
are offered almost at your own price. The trees are 

27 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

green. Our stay was a happy change from our ten 
days' continuous ride on the ocean, but it was at least 
ninety-eight hours too short. 

ON THE MEDITERRANEAN 

The Mediterranean sea is a larger body of water 
than you are liable to imagine, unless you are pretty 
well up in geography. It is about 2,000 miles from 
Gibraltar on the west, to Jaffa or Beyroot on the east, 
or almost as far as from New York city to Denver. It 
is about 1,000 miles from Gibraltar to Naples, our next 
stop, and for days at a time we were out of the sight 
of land. There was a wind directly against us of at 
least thirty miles an hour and the waves were of con- 
siderable size. But we breasted them in good shape 
and entered the sea under favorable circumstances. 
The weather has been very fair so far on the trip. 

"We lost about thirty passengers, who disembarked 
at Gibraltar, but we had an addition, for down in the 
steerage there were two hundred Italians on their way 
to their old home. An event occurred which was not 
regularly billed, but which increased the count to two 
hundred and one. It was a great event in the Italian 
settlement, but it is said to be such a common occur- 
rence on this line that the ship's crew passed it over as 
an every day event. 

A DANCE ON DECK 

The first night on the Mediterranean was cele- 
brated by a ball on the ship. The after deck was com- 
fortably roofed over with canvas, decorated with Ger- 
man and American flags, illuminated with colored elec- 
tric globes and Chinese lanterns, and the floor was 

28 



THE CAPTAIN'S DINNER 

copiously spread with oatmeal, and the music and 
dancers furnished the rest. 

It was really romantic to contemplate the idea of 
dancing on the Blue Mediterranean, beneath colored 
lights and twinkling stars, to those old tunes that have 
been played in all places. They bring to mind love's 
young, happy dreams. And the music — they were the 
same old tunes that I have heard ground out by some 
corduroy fiddler at a country dance in the western 
states and have heard brilliantly executed by great 
orchestras in great ball rooms in later years and finally 
mingled by this little German band with the melodious 
swash of the waters of this wonderful inland sea, which 
has been the lurking place of pirates, the battle focus of 
many nations, and the home of romance in all ages. 
THE CAPTAIN'S DINNER 

Sunday morning came with its religious worship, 
and Sunday evening was the last night on board ship. 
After so long a trip and being just off the coast of 
Sardinia, the captain's dinner was celebrated. 

After considering all the wars and all the various 
occurrences that have transpired on the Mediterranean, 
I am of the opinion that the captain's dinner on the 
steamer Moltke on Sunday evening, May 5th, was the 
greatest of all events so far recorded, and I so write it 
down. 

All of the officers appeared in their bright uni- 
forms. The royal Italian commissioner, in full regalia, 
sat at the right hand of the captain. All the other 
gentlemen appeared in full dress suits, and the ladies, 
bless them, they were too beautiful to describe. Rich 
gowns draped beautiful forms, diamonds sparkled and 

29 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

smiles and bright countenances outrivaled the electric 
lights and gilded furnishings. 

The great dining hall was wreathed with garlands 
of roses and vines. American, German and Italian 
flags were draped in beautiful combinations and little 
flags of all nations ornamented the tables. 

The band seated in the balcony discoursed patri- 
otic airs of the several nations and responded to a num- 
ber of encores that were spontaneous. When "Amer- 
ica" and "The Star Spangled Banner" were played, 
the whole assemblage rose to their feet and joined in the 
strains. So they did also when the band played "The 
Watch on the Rhine," and as a special compliment to 
the Italian commissioner, as the national anthem of his 
country was played, the banner of his country was 
dropped from above. The audience rose to their feet 
and drank to the commissioner's health, and so the 
dinner continued with a number of surprises. 

The dinner was unique and a number of ornamental 
dishes were served. Wine and champagne were much 
in order. An amusing part of the meal was when the 
dessert was reached. Pyramids of snapping favors were 
attacked. They were little rolls of gold paper with tas- 
seled ends. A gentleman and a lady would each seize a 
tassel and pull. When the wrapper gave way, it 
snapped like a little torpedo, and disclosed an odd cap 
made of fine tissue paper and a sentimental quotation 
appropriate to the occasion. The caps were in all colors 
and in all shapes, and when the guests fitted them on 
their heads, they looked very chipper. Some repre- 
sented dairy maids, others German peasants, etc. It 

30 



THE CAPTAIN'S DINNER 

was a pleasing innovation and provoked round and 
round of laughter. 

The grand climax of the dinner, however, was the 
illuminated ice cream procession. At a signal all the 
lights were extinguished and absolute darkness pre- 
vailed. Then came the seventy-five waiters, each 
dressed in a different costume, representing all the na- 
tions and all the peoples of the earth. There were 
Chinamen, Japanese, Russians, American Indians, 
Scotch Highlanders, Alpine Climbers, Wooden-shoe 
Hollanders, German and Dutch peasants, Italian organ 
grinders and many others. Half of them carried Chi- 
nese, Japanese and various colored paper lanterns and 
the other half carried platters in the center of which were 
little cabins made of ice and illuminated from the in- 
side with lights that showed through the windows, doors 
and walls. Clustered about the little cabins, in what 
would be the yards, were miniature pumpkins, which 
were in reality oranges from which the fruit had been 
removed and replaced by ice cream. After the proces- 
sion had wound through and about the tables to the 
music of the grand march, the hall was suddenly lighted 
by the bursting forth of a lot of incandescent lights 
which were concealed in a wreath which entwined a 
bronze bust of the old German warrior, Moltke, after 
whom the ship is named. It was a wonderfully beau- 
tiful and effective act, and the two hundred and fifty 
banqueters rose to their feet and cheered and cheered 
again. 

It seems that only Germans can carry such occa- 
sions as these to a truly successful issue, and this time 
they outdid themselves. It was a fitting celebration 

31 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

of a long but successful trip. The weather was perfect 
and everything combined to make the function a success. 
It left all in a happy mood to greet Naples, the beau- 
tiful city of Italy, to which we had all looked forward 
with such bright anticipations. 



32 




NAPLES. 
With Glimpse of the Bay and Mt. Vesuvius. — Page 33. 



Chapter II 



NAPLES FROM THE WATER 

Our entry into Naples could hardly have been made 
under more auspicious circumstances. Having left New 
York thirteen days previous under gloomy skies and 
with a beating ocean, we sailed into the Bay of Naples 
about 4 o'clock in the afternoon under a clear heaven 
and on the smoothest of waters. Coming from the west, 
the sun was behind us and cast its brightest rays against 
the city, and as we dropped anchor it was a fitting end 
to a successful voyage. 

As seen from the water, I think that the claim that 
Naples is the most beautiful city in the world might 
reasonably be conceded. It is built in the form of a 
crescent; the inner circle toward the bay. It reaches 
from Mt. Vesuvius on the east, to the hills of Posilipo 
on the west. Commencing on the water's edge with 
picturesque buildings, the city rises in irregular ter- 
races and clusters high in the sky-line at the back. 
There is every imaginable style of architecture from 
brown, rusty fortifications of past ages, to fairylike 
villas and fanciful hotels of to-day. 

As the steamer comes to anchor a considerable 
distance from the shore and as the eye sweeps the 
circle of sea front, and the great and beautiful struc- 
tures rising one above the other like Jacob's ladder 

33 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

reaching to the sky, you are electrified by the view. It 
seems as if the whole city has been brought to you and 
placed conveniently for your inspection, your approval 
and your acceptance as the grandest effort in many 
respects ever accomplished in bringing together the 
crowded habitations of man, the busy marts of trade, 
the beautiful in nature, the sublime in architecture, and 
the nearest approach to perfection in civic splendor ever 
combined in one grand picture. 

The outer side of a circle repels and defends. The 
inner side of a circle invites and receives, and so Naples, 
in this respect, as well as others, is wonderfully fasci- 
nating; for as you come into the harbor, it encircles 
you with its wreath of loveliness and you are all 
anxiety to enter its inviting portals. You can hardly 
endure to wait the time required for the several for- 
malities that are required before being allowed to land 
on a foreign shore. 

THE ORDEAL OF LANDING 

The ordeal of landing, however, in Naples is not 
so poetical an experience as one might imagine, but is 
withal an experience long to be remembered. I think 
the arrangements for landing are as bad as the city is 
beautiful. The ship comes to anchor about a mile from 
shore. Before it has reached its destination scores of 
row boats can be seen coming from all directions, and 
before the ship has ceased motion they are about it like 
a flock of sea pirates. Their recklessness and audacity 
are surprising. While the marine police are trying to 
drive them back they will row swiftly in, striking the 
ship 's hull, and, throwing a rope with a hook on the end 
of it into an open port hole of the ship, will catch on 

34 



ORDEAL OF LANDING 

and be jerked along through the water at a rapid rate, 
while the troupe of men and women serenade the pas- 
sengers with Naples' famous air, "The Sextette from 
Lucia. ' ' 

Another boat filled with brown, husky men follows 
the ship, and while two or three keep their boat in mo- 
tion, several begin to pull off their clothes, exposing 
their brown bodies. It looks as though they were going 
to be entirely naked in a few seconds. But when they 
have removed their outer clothing it is seen that they 
wear bathing trunks, and they are soon overboard div- 
ing for coppers thrown from the ship by passengers who 
are willing to pay for the exhibition. Other boats are 
filled with musicians, some with divers and others with 
flowers and novelties to sell. 

There is activity and life in the landing at Naples. 
It commences at this time and does not end until after 
you get to your hotel, and lock the door, and even then 
the sounds, like the confusion of the many voices at the 
time of trouble at Babel, reach you. 

I think the arrangements for disembarking are the 
worst that could be tolerated. After the ship comes to 
anchor, aside from the boats of quarantine, police, etc., 
three tenders are sent to the ship. One for the first- 
elats passengers, one for the steerage passengers, and 
another for the trunks. As all the first-class passengers 
have their hand baggage, which is ponderous on a for- 
eign trip, and there are about thirty hotel runners and 
an Italian band already on board, there is not room 
enough for all the passengers, so a second or third trip 
of the tender is necessary. 

"When you land at a formidable stone dock adjoin- 

35 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ing the custom house you have your real Neapolitan 
experience. On this dock pandemonium reigns su- 
preme. It is a scramble, open to all comers, with no 
rules or regulations, and the strongest lungs and the 
most strenuous limbs win out. The harassment of the 
new-comer and his tortures are complete. 

There are thirty or forty hotel runners, each with 
two or three assistants, who have free consent to go 
and come any place and solicit unrestrained. There are 
all kinds of peddlers and venders of miscellaneous ar- 
ticles, and they are all let loose on the incoming passen- 
gers. Then, in addition, there are swarms of beggars 
that are positively the limit of their kind. Armless, 
legless, sightless, twisted, warped, stunted and mal- 
formed, old, young and middle-aged, limping, hopping, 
and crawling, and all crying out in most imploring voices 
all their sorrows and all their woes. It is truly appall- 
ing and you feel sick at heart and almost wish you had 
not come so far to be so unmercifully annoyed by the 
strong and so relentlessly pursued by the afflicted. 

' The arrangement for the discharge of baggage is 
even worse than that for passengers. After long wait- 
ing, a barge is brought ashore with trunks piled up in 
tiers and pyramids. None of them are checked and 
everybody seems free to help themselves. Every per- 
son who has a trunk in the collection has one or two 
porters to help dig it out, and everybody's trunk is 
under everybody else's trunk. Unsystematic work at a 
house on fire in our country is order and system as com- 
pared with the unloading of trunks from a steamer at 
Naples. "While the barge is bumping up and down with 
the waves, men, women and porters are all climbing 

36 



IN NAPLES 

over trunks looking for other trunks. In the melee 
one trunk was knocked overboard and I noticed two 
others with their sides caved in. 

My trunk, of course, was directly in the center 
of the boat in the bottom layer. "With the aid of two 
husky porters, I dug down to it, but in doing so we 
undermined a young New York lady who was standing 
on the top of the pyramid and came near toppling her 
into the sea. 

I do not know just why I should have started in 
so soon to write about the beggars unless it was that 
the beggars started in on me first. There were many 
others besides peddlers and beggars on the dock. There 
were several ranks of soldiers and police with bright 
uniforms and headgear, ornamented with feathers and 
gold and so fanciful that they might be taken for 
actors in a grotesque show, but they seem to be more 
for ornament than use and the tourist is forcibly re- 
minded that the Italian idea is still in vogue, viz., 
"That anyone who cannot protect himself is not worth 
being protected by the law." 

IN NAPLES 

I wish I had language to describe Naples as it is, 
and yet, if I had, it Would make a long story. It is a 
remarkably beautiful and interesting city. It was es- 
tablished about three thousand years ago, over a thou- 
sand years before Christ, and bears the imprint of its 
varied existence. 

Some of the buildings seem to date back from the 
beginning and yet there are many modern buildings 
and new ones are being erected in every quarter. The 
streets are splendidly paved with granite blocks, six to 

37 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ten inches thick and about sixteen by twenty-four inches 
square and laid diagonally with the street. The houses 
are ordinarily five stories high, built of stone, plastered 
and frescoed or painted on the outside. As the stories 
each are considerably higher than those we have in 
America, and the windows are narrow and the streets 
unusually so, everything seems tall. 

There are other buildings and old castles that con- 
form to no rules except the idea of the architect who 
planned them or the builders who built them without 
plans. As the city is built on the sides of bluffs, hills 
or mountains, there are many peculiar and heroic ideas 
displayed. Next to a five-story business house built on 
the street level may be a structure of equal or greater 
dimensions perched on a solid, natural rock higher than 
the first building. There are old fortresses, towers and 
castles built of brown stone, covered with the moss of 
age and with vines and shrubbery growing from many 
cracks and crevices, and there are such departures from 
our modern ideas that we become confused and as- 
tounded with the variety and impressivenes of the 
scenes round about us. 

As you are rushed pell-mell down a winding street, 
with imminent risk of being dashed to death on roofs 
of houses a hundred feet below you, palaces may tower 
twice that far above you, approached by a ziz-zag road 
and supported by a series of arches and galleries that 
excite your wonder and your admiration. 

The structures are not all grand, for beside the 
castle of a patrician on some bold eminence may stand 
the house of a very poor family and the royal banner 

38 



IN NAPLES 

of Italy may float side by side with the dago's family 
washing. 

There are beautiful public squares or openings of 
irregular shapes, grand circles surrounded by colon- 
nades of huge stone pillars, and in the center are magnifi- 
cent fountains and statuary. There are little narrow 
streets going upward by steps, crowded with people. 
There are shrines built into the walls. There are statues 
in great profusion. There is the royal palace with a roof 
garden that is so extensive that it looks like a public 
park. There are more hotels than one would be able to 
locate in a week. They seem to be numbered by the hun- 
dreds. There is one hotel that is reached by several 
winding streets and an elevator. When you alight 
at the approach of this hotel you are ushered 
through a little reception room into a tunnel at 
least two hundred feet long, paved with tile and 
graced with palms and potted plants the entire length. 
Then an elevator is taken that carries you up through 
the rocks for a considerable distance to the hotel above. 
The building is very pretty, occupies an eminent posi- 
tion and overlooks the entire city and the bay beyond. 
When lighted up at night it presents a very beautiful 
sight from the lower part of the city. 

Of the several forts, two particularly attracted my 
attention. One jutting far out into the sea, and the 
other on the apex of the highest hill. They are both 
so old-looking, so overgrown with moss and vines, have 
so many angles, tunnels, battlements and port-holes 
that it would seem as if they were built, as an artist 
would paint pictures, for a scenic effect rather than for 
use. And yet they were built for war, grim visaged 

39 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

war, and have passed through many hard fought con- 
flicts. 

While most of the stone buildings are old, many of 
them are new and up-to-date. There are several that 
are innovations. One is a large building about the size 
of the Illinois state house. It has a glass dome with 
steel frame nearly as large as the horticultural dome 
on the Illinois fair grounds. From this dome are 
four glass covered corridors with stores on the floor and 
offices above. There must be nearly a hundred stores 
in this one building. These stores are not large, but 
they carry stocks of jewelry, art works, silk, etc., of 
great value. There are one or two other buildings of 
this nature, but not so large. This one is a remarkable 
structure. 

But who can describe Naples ? It is a city, as is Italy 
a country, of contrasts. There is more wealth, more 
poverty, more religion, more rascality, more music and 
more disagreeable noises, more sweet perfumes and 
more bad odors, more activity and more laziness, more 
military and less order, grander houses and meaner 
hovels, more politeness and less respect for one's rights, 
and more musicians, peddlers and beggars than any 
other place in the world. 

Withal, it is a wonderfully interesting and fasci- 
nating country and is more than worth a visit at any 
time. 

EXPERIENCES IN NAPLES 

Much of the pleasure of a stay in this country is 
marred by the continuous demands made upon you to 
encourage music, to develop industry, and promote va- 
grancy. 

40 



IN NAPLES 

Orchestras assail you at every turn. As you drive 
in a public conveyance up Mt. Vesuvius an orchestra 
marches with you and plays music as you go. Orches- 
tras and quartettes are on the ferries, in the stations 
and every place, and they render regular operatic con- 
certs on the pleasure boats, while the hat or the plates 
keep on the go for collections. 

Half of the population of the cities apparently 
live by singing, peddling or begging. Those that can 
not sing sell everything imaginable and do not know 
the meaning of "Get out," "Go away," "Don't want 
it," "Don't bother me," or anything of that kind, but 
keep right on pestering the life out of you till you lose 
all patience unless you are an exceptionally good Chris- 
tian and have excellent control of your temper. There 
is one thing they all do understand although they some- 
times pay no attention to it, and that is "skiddoo." 

While looking for my baggage I was vexed almost 
beyond endurance, by a young man who clattered in my 
ear the advantages of buying postal cards from him. 
I finally turned to him and told him to ' ' Skiddoo. ' ' He 
came back at me promptly with ' ' Twenty-three. ' ' That 
appeared to him to be a complete answer and he stuck 
to me after that till I got into a carriage and left the 
station. I afterwards heard "skiddoo" and "twenty- 
three" all along the line. It is all the English they 
know, and they are proud of that much. 

When you ride you usually have small boy beggars 
running beside your carriage crying for money and they 
turn "cart wheels" as they go, that is, they put their 
hands on the ground and throw their feet over their 
heads, and they will keep this up as fast as the horse 

41 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

trots. About half the time their feet are up and the 
other half their heads are up, and every time they are 
right side up their hands are extended for pennies and 
their voices ringing in supplicating tones. At one place 
while we were eating our lunch a little band of ragged 
urchins, hardly old enough to talk, sang to us a cute little 
air, carrying their several parts, the leader beating time 
with all the sangfroid of a Sousa, and then they waited 
their reward. In another instance as we were eating on 
a gallery adjoining the street, as saucy a little bunch of 
rags as could well be imagined approached us, and be- 
fore I knew what he was at, had picked up my bread 
and intimated that he would enjoy eating it better than 
I would. He got it. As I left the table, an elderly wo- 
man with a small baby in her arms thrust a bouquet 
into my hand as I was pointing at a statue and had 
thus consummated a sale of flowers without my know- 
lodge. 

Men chase alongside of your cab at break-neck 
rate and insist on selling huge bouquets; two or three 
dozen roses at a franc for all. As we went to the sta- 
tion at Naples, these enterprising floral salesmen threw 
their bouquets into the omnibus, until they nearly 
covered us and we looked like the occupants of an ad- 
vance wagon of a funeral procession. And so I might 
continue indefinitely, but this will give you some idea 
of the thrifty disposition of the citizens of Naples who 
want to divide your money with you. 
LIVE !N THE OPEN 

Naples has a population of a little over half a mil- 
lion, but there are apparently more people on the streets 
than there are in Chicago or New York. 

42 



WONDERFUL CAB SERVICE 

The people of Naples carry on more of their affairs 
in the open than those of any other city that I ever 
visited. They do not seem to use houses even for sleep- 
ing. That is, some don't. They eat on the street, sleep 
on the street, work on the street, and play on the street. 
Shoemakers and other workmen carry on their business 
on the sidewalks, compelling the foot passengers to en- 
tirely abandon the sidewalks and take to the street to 
get around them. Much of the selling of goods is done 
on the streets. 

To an American the most peculiar use of the streets 
is the use that is made of them for the milking of cows 
and goats. They have no trouble about adulterated milk 
in Naples as the cows and goats are driven to the doors 
and milked in the presence of the customers. As there 
is lots of milk used in a city of over half a million peo- 
ple, and the people use both cows' and goats' milk, the 
streets are always full of cows with new calves, and 
flocks of goats of all sizes. As the goats and cows are 
driven through the street and all have bells there is a 
continual tinkling of the bell, morning, noon and night. 
Some of the goats go up to the living apartments on the 
third and fourth stories to deliver their milk. 

The street car service is fair. There is one main 
line several miles in length, but not more than one block 
of the line apparently is straight. It seems there are 
no crosstown cars so this line makes all the places that 
crosstown cars would otherwise reach, and the line is 
constructed accordingly. 

WONDERFUL CAB SERVICE 

The cab service is wonderful. The vehicles used are 
small victorias, accommodating two passengers and a 

43 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

driver. The rates are very reasonable ; one lira or franc, 
equal to about nineteen cents, carries two persons any- 
where, within two or three miles ; while by the hour they 
go for one and one-half francs, equalling less than 
thirty cents, American money. There are myriads of 
these little vehicles and the drivers are alert to a won- 
derful degree. 

The driving is furious. The drivers carry long 
whips which they crack all the time and everybody 
seems to look out for themselves and let the cab take its 
course. There seems to be no law against fast driving, 
and it is truly a wonderful experience to go down a 
crowded street in one of these little victorias. The front 
wheels are about twenty- four inches in diameter; the 
hind wheels about thirty inches. They have no rubber 
tires or washers to prevent rattling of the wheels, so 
they make a clatter on the stone streets about like Nero 
made with his chariots in days of long ago. ' They go on 
a rapid trot or frequently a gallop in the most crowded 
streets, swinging and cracking the whips vehemently, 
and as there are sometimes a dozen on the same block, 
going equally fast, it seems remarkable that there are 
not more people run down than there are. 

"We Americans think we are pretty rapid, but I 
think the cab men of Naples can give many pointers 
to our hackmen at home. I cannot understand how the 
horses can endure the treatment they are given here. 
The rate they go, the loads they haul, and the service 
they render is truly remarkable. They never go slower 
than a trot, and frequently on a full gallop like a fire 
marshal going to a fire. 

One day we engaged a cabman on the Island of 

44 



AN EYE FOR THE PICTURESQUE 

Capri, to go to the top of the mountain on a winding 
road. The driver galloped the horse up the hill with 
three in the rig until we begged him to let up. Another 
day we drove from Sorrento to Pompeii, over stone 
roads, for a distance said to be twenty miles. I don't 
think the horse was out of a trot for five minutes of the 
entire drive, and then only at our persuasion. It took 
three hours, and they said they usually made the drive 
in two and a quarter hours. The day we visited Pom- 
peii was a feast day, and many carts were fixed up to 
convey passengers. Many of them carried over twenty 
persons with two horses, or mules, and frequently one 
horse conveyed ten to fifteen people. In one instance a 
small horse was trotting along with a load which I 
counted. It contained twenty-three people, all but two 
or three full grown. 

There are no freight or farm wagons in Naples 
such as we have in America. Heavy hauling is done on 
huge carts. They usually have one horse between the 
shafts, and one or two small horses hitched at the side. 
The loads they haul are out of all proportion to the 
weight of the horses that are required to do the work. 

HAVE AN EYE FOR PICTURESQUE 

There is lots of military in Naples. Some company 
of soldiers seems to be always on the march, either 
cavalry, artillery or infantry. One might imagine that 
a war was fully on and that a considerable army was in 
possession of the town. There are soldiers everywhere 
and they wear gorgeous uniforms and carry swords. 
Policemen carry swords, and their headgear is orna- 
mented with feathers. Some have a single straight 

45 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

feather that sticks up in a jaunty manner and gives 
them a chipper appearance. Even the private sol- 
diers wear large clusters of coq feathers. The people 
here have an eye for the picturesque. 

All of the several Victor Emanuels who have been 
kings of Italy have turned up their mustaches at the 
ends, and, as a consequence, and in imitation thereof, 
nearly every Italian wears his mustache that way. Some 
of them have them twisted up so tight that it raises 
their feet off the ground as they walk. 

UP MT. VESUVIUS 

We went to the top of Mt. Vesuvius the other day 
and it was an experience that I am not likely to forget 
for at least several weeks. Before the recent eruption 
Cook's Cog Railway reached nearly to the top. But the 
eruption destroyed a considerable portion of the upper 
end and what there is left of that part is in bad condi- 
tion. The cross ties burned out and the rails are as 
crooked as fishing worms. 

It is now necessary after leaving the cog railway 
to go a considerable distance on foot or horseback £o 
within a few hundred yards from the mouth of the 
crater where it becomes too steep for the horses. That 
is where the trouble usually commences. In my case, 
however, it commenced previous to this and continued 
until the apex of the journey was reached. 

"When it came the time and place to select horses, 
I was assigned to as bad a looking creature as there 
was in the bunch. It was a dark roan with a bald face 
and a glass eye and I found it as bad as it looked. The 
one thing that puzzled me was how so small a horse 

46 



UP MT. VESUVIUS 

could get up so much actiou iu so short a time with a, 
man of my size on its back. 

We started up a winding trail on the mountain 
side with many ups and no downs. It was like a small 
crevice between huge chunks of lava and volcanic rocks. 
Every here and there it was steeper than at other places. 
As the horse went up these steeper places its back-bone 
pointed at an angle of about forty-five degrees toward 
the tip of the mountain, and the rider took the position 
of an exhibition horseman in a circus when the horse 
stands on its hind feet. About the first one of these 
steep places we struck, my saddle slipped back about 
ten inches farther than it should have been, and before 
I knew what was the matter, I found the hind end of 
the horse was up and his heels throwing the pumice 
stone of Vesuvius about half way to the Bay of Naples. 
Order being restored, I dismounted and the saddle was 
moved forward and I started again, but the same ex- 
perience was repeated at each steep place in the road. 
Nobody else seems to think so, but I was vain enough 
to believe that I was a pretty fair rider and I thought 
I would stick to that horse and follow Prof. Gleason's 
plan of wearing him out. But a narrow groove on the 
side of a mountain, two thousand feet above the sea, in 
the midst of ashes and chunks of rugged stone as big 
as bales of hay, is not the best place to train a saddle 
horse. So when the horse was more vigorous every time, 
I began to think the wearing out idea was a failure. 
When on the eleventh attempt of that horse to get me 
off, I found myself with both feet out of the stirrups, 
my eye-glasses flying in one direction, my field-glasses 
in another, one arm around the brute's neck and the 

47 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

other clutching his mane, the back strap of my pants at 
least sixteen inches higher than my head, and with per- 
spiration oozing from every pore, it seemed to me that 
the horse was doing a better job of wearing out than I 
was. Then when I heard my wife imploring me to get 
off and let the horse go, out of deference to her wishes, 
I dismounted gracefully, and, like King Richard, called 
for another horse. A mountain guide furnished me 
with another animal with a better disposition and I 
proceeded on up the path that seemed to hang like a 
spider's web around the cone and gradually disappear 
near the tip of the mountain that has been torn and 
burned by so many eruptions. 

Having reached the limit of the horse trail it was 
necessary to dismount and engage a guide and go the 
rest of the way on foot. I was intercepted here by the 
most audacious set of rogues I had yet encountered in 
Italy. There were about six in all and they insisted on 
carrying me the rest of the way. When I demurred, 
tbey implored, "Seenyour, its iz right heera zat ze fatta 
menz all dye wiz ze heart dyseeze. You shall not. Ve 
sava your lifa, only 10 francs," and before I knew it 
they had grabbed me and had me half on their 
shoulders, determined to carry me whether or no. I 
executed a half tackle, broke away from them, and, 
grabbing a big, heavy stick that my guide carried for 
a cane, offered to brain the whole bunch of them. Then 
tbey desisted, but the guide wanted one franc extra for 
the use of the cane. I compromised the situation by 
offering to accept the services of one of them to go 
ahead and pull me with a rope looped in one end, to 
which I held, while he held the other end over his 

48 




RUINS OF POMPEII. 
on^llT-^TtT *"' aateS ~ Si ^^ -eath and deso.ation reigned 



UP MT. VESUVIUS 

shoulder. Without my consent another fellow hired 
himself to push me from behind, and so I went up the 
steep incline like a balky mule with a pull from in front 
and a push from behind. The hot ashes were over my 
shoe-tops and were crowding my feet for possession of 
my shoes. My breath was short and my heart went like 
a trip-hammer, but for speed I think I almost made a 
record-breaking trip on that part of the journey. 

We shortly arrived at the edge of the crater and 
the vast abyss yawned beneath our feet. Away on the 
yonder rim were specks that looked like ants moving 
about. They were visitors who had gone up from the 
Pompeiian side. I do not know how large the hole is, 
but it is a terrible rent. The volcano is dormant now. 
A small streak of smoke could be seen issuing from way 
down in the bowels of the earth. Aside from this there 
is no evidence of life or animation, and the great hole 
is to a considerable degree disappointing. I do not 
know whether the trip is worth the effort. It is a long 
pull and a hard pull at the best and I made it under 
trying circumstances. Yet thousands will make the 
effort and will climb to the top of this famous mountain 
to gaze down into the crater that vomited forth its fires 
on Pompeii and Herculaneum two thousand years ago 
and has been a threatening demon of death ever since. 



49 



Chapter III 



THE ISLAND OF CAPRI 

In childhood we live in the fancy of anticipation 
and we long for the time to come when we will go out 
into the world and visit the enchanted lands we have 
pictured as" being in existence. 

In old age we live in the past and the commonplace 
things that we knew in youth take on clothing of mag- 
nificence until it seems as we look back that we lived 
and grew up in a fairy land. 

In middle age we are so engrossed in the struggle 
for wealth, for fame, or in the regulation of affairs that 
we forget the anticipated fancies of childhood and, not 
having reached the sweet old age of mellowed recollec- 
tions, we are apt to think there are no fairy lands to 
visit, that there are no places where the sun always 
shines, except when the stars are coquetting with the 
roses. But we are mistaken in this. There are spots on 
this real earth where the real things are as fanciful, as 
romantic and as lovely as the dreams of childhood or 
the golden recollections of old age; where mountain 
peaks are lightened by the sun's bright rays, and where 
crags crowd each other with majestic shapes, where 
vines intermingle with verdant trees and where hills 
and mountain sides are clothed with roses and gar- 

50 



ISLAND OP CAPRI 

landed with flowers of many hues. There are such 
places, and the Island of Capri in the Bay of Naples is 
one of them. It is a reality of 

"The magical isle up the river of time, 
Where the softest of airs are playing, 

Where there always is a musical chime 

And the Junes with the roses are straying." 

Capri is an irregular shaped island. Its area is 
about five and a half square miles. It may be as much 
as three miles the long way and if there is a foot of flat 
surface on the entire island, it must be where someone 
has leveled it. Capri presents a solid wall to the sea, 
900 feet high, and then extends on above that to the 
top of the mountain, over one thousand feet more. It 
was the favorite home of Augustus and Tiberius, the 
ancient rulers of Rome, and the ruins of the baths of 
Tiberius still exist. It is remarkably verdant and pro- 
duces 800 varieties of vegetation, and yields fruit, oil 
and large quantities of wines that are exceedingly good. 

We made a short journey to this famous island 
during our stay in Naples, and it was very enjoyable. 
Before the boat comes to the main landing, it stops at 
the Blue Grotto, allowing time to go into the famous 
aperture. This is a cave at the base of the mountain, 
apparently about half above and half below the water 
line. The cave is about one hundred feet wide, one 
hundred and twenty-five feet long, thirty-nine feet from 
the arch to the water and about fifty feet below the 
water line. The opening is only three feet high and not 
much wider, and row boats can only enter it when the 
water is smooth. We had a most excellent day as the 
sea was calm and a bright sun was shining. I think, as 

51 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

a natural wonder, the grotto may be overestimated, and 
yet it is quite a wonder and remarkably beautiful. The 
sun shining into this small opening and the water having 
a sparkling blue tinge, reflected in the dome above, 
which is of white stone, imparts the same hue to that 
and the whole interior of the grotto becomes a beautiful 
blue color, while the oars of the boat, the boat's keel or 
a bare hand thrust into the water, seem almost as white 
as marble. Young men who, for a remuneration, dive 
and swim in the water in the grotto, wear light colored 
trunks and look like marble statues in bathing. 

After visiting the grotto, we took a ride on the 
Island and reached a very high altitude by a road that 
must have been a remarkable piece of engineering in 
road construction. We who live in the level states of 
the middle west do not know what it is to build roads 
under difficult conditions. As you stand at the base of 
the mountain of Capri, you see a well built road, mac- 
adamized full width and with solid stone walls. It 
winds its way up backward and forward, one coil above 
the other as far as you can trace it. Nearly a thousand 
feet above you it passes over a succession of arches and 
is lost to view. Away above again you see a white mark 
across the side of a perpendicular stone wall. It seems 
to hang upon the wall like a white ribbon stretched along 
its side. It is the same white stone wall that is pro- 
tecting the traveler on the same road that commences 
at your feet. You engage a driver with a tough, chunky 
little horse with a harness ornamented with gilded trap- 
pings and with a pheasant's tail feather nearly two feet 
long sticking straight up between its ears, and are off for 
a trip up this mountain road. The driver jumps onto his 

52 



IDEAL, POETIC HOME 

box and starts off up the hill on a gallop, and in spite of 
your protests he goes up the road at a rate that would 
be called fast in our country on level ground. It is a 
wonderful ride as you go up and look down into the sea 
hundreds of feet below and see the boulders in the bot- 
tom under thirty feet of water and see how small the 
row-boats look, and then look above where the rocks 
never seem to end. In the most daring and apparently 
most dangerous place, a figure of the Virgin stands in 
a little cleft in the rock and a candle burns in front of 
it. It is a timely warning, and it is proper to lift your 
hat as you pass this point. You meet many rigs on the 
way and some carts well loaded with wine and other 
stuff for the fine hotels clear at the top, and horses pull 
themselves almost to death to haul stuff up here that 
men ride up to eat and drink. But while this road is 
narrow it is safe, for it is always protected on the outer 
side by that solid wall of stone, laid up with cement. 
AN IDEAL AND POETIC HOME 
We enjoyed an unexpected pleasure by finding as 
residents of this Island two gifted ladies with whom I 
had some acquaintance in one of the central middle 
states of America several years ago. They own and live 
in one of the most extensive and beautiful villas, of 
which there are a number on the Island, and certainly 
have an ideal and poetic home. They have traveled 
extensively and finally settled on Capri because it 
seemed to them the most delightful spot they had ever 
visited. Notwithstanding that they were in the midst 
of a bridge whist party, which shows that the Island of 
Capri is not behind the times, they received us cordially 
and kindly invited us during our visit to go through 

53 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

their house. We were especially glad to avail ourselves 
of this opportunity, as tourists and travelers, such as we, 
have very little chance of seeing the interior of fine 
houses in foreign countries and can hardly judge of 
how the better class live. 

I cannot describe the house very well. It is so 
much different from our houses it would take a long 
chapter. It was the most beautiful and ideal residence 
we had ever seen. It is perched fancifully on an abrupt 
hillside, giving a magnificent view of the bay. It is 
built, I think, of stone and plastered on the outside. It 
is white as marble. The foundation on the bay side 
rests on arches and above them is a succession of porches 
or galleries on the two exposed sides with arches one 
above the other for some three stories and all sur- 
mounted by a tower. All the floors are of white tile as 
smooth as polished glass. The stairways are of marble 
and all the furnishings are either white or most deli- 
cately tinted and finished. Statues and works of art 
are so tastefully arranged that they are pleasing beyond 
description. There is a stairway, also of marble, to the 
roof, which is flat and overlooks the bay. The roof is 
also covered with tile and has a substantial balustrade 
and is supplied with seats and can be used for parties 
and receptions. The kitchen, which is presided over by 
a polite Italian, is a marvel of completeness and shines 
with polished copper utensils and nickel-plated ranges, 
while the dining room is in keeping with all the other 
parts of ihe villa. There is no coal smoke in Capri, as 
charcoal is used, and dust, if there is any, certainly 
never finds a lodging place in this villa. When you call 
you ring a bell at the iron gate by the road, connecting 

54 



SORRENTO 

with stone walls, covered with vines. A charming Ital- 
ian maid conducts you through a garden blooming with 
all kinds of flowers and you are ushered into a reception 
room that is a happy preface to the lovely palace. Our 
visit to this remarkable home was one of the events of 
our short stay in Capri that we will remember with 
pleasure. Another surprise was to find that these ladies 
had relatives living in our home town. 

SORRENTO 

We took a steamer from Capri to Sorrento. It is 
a city of some importance on the east coast of the Bay 
of Naples and is famous as the birthplace of the poet, 
Tasso. It is also a place of resort and is the market 
for certain patterns of silk and inlaid woodwork. There 
is no railroad to Sorrento except a trolley line, so most 
travelers usually go there on steamers. As the steam- 
ers must come to anchor a considerable distance from 
shore, row-boats are used in place of omnibuses. There 
are over a dozen hotels here and an odd scene is the fleet 
of hotel boats coming out to meet the steamer, each 
carrying, instead of a banner, a wooden sign on a mast, 
naming its particular hotel. The boats are manned by 
several hotel employes in uniform and present an ar- 
mada almost equal to that one sent out by Spain in the 
ancient times. As there is only one ladder to the 
steamer there is some sharp sparring for position of the 
boats and a considerable amount of inflammable Ital- 
ian language is indulged in. 

Sorrento is located upon an abrupt sea wall and 
all the hotels have elevators down through the solid 
stone to the boats' landing, and you are lifted up 
through the rock to go to the hotel where you arrive as 

55 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

though you were emerging from a coal mine. But 
what magnificent hotels when you get to the surface. 
They are of the very best. 

We drove from Sorrento overland in an open car- 
riage, a distance of about twenty miles to Pompeii, pass- 
ing through several towns on the way. The road was 
similar to that on Capri, frequently hanging on the 
mountain sides, at other times deep in a cut with, stone 
walls on either side as much as fifteen feet in height; 
some places it was paved with solid flag-stones and all 
the rest of the way macadamized and in excellent condi- 
tion. For a considerable distance the wagon road ran 
side by side with a well-built interurban road. For the en- 
tire length of the track, the trolley wires were supported 
by iron or steel posts of the "I" beam pattern. This 
seemed peculiar to me as there is no iron or steel mined 
in Italy and such material is very expensive. On this 
line the rails were of good weight, and the cars of a late 
pattern and in good form. I should pronounce it a 
well-built and well-equipped road. 

THE RUINS OF POMPEII 

We arrived at the walls of Pompeii about noon, 
and, taking our seats in the shade of a little restaurant, 
enjoyed a pleasant noon-day lunch under a bamboo tree. 
We watched the people as they came away from some 
religious feast at the modern Cathedral just outside 
the ancient city. They came in all kinds of wheeled 
conveyances. They were dressed in fancy costumes, 
garlanded with bright colored flowers, and they blew 
tin horns, rattled castanets and beat upon tambourines 
as they passed. They were all joyous, happy, noisy and 
full of life and animation. 

56 



RUINS OF POMPEII 

But what a contrast! We stepped through the 
old gates of Pompeii, and just on the other side of the 
wall from the merry scenes described, silence, death and 
desolation reigned undisturbed. The old city that was 
buried by Vesuvius nearly two thousand years ago, and 
lost to all mankind until about one hundred years since, 
stood in melancholy relief. A few straggling sight- 
seers and official patrolmen were all the life now in 
evidence and these were almost lost to view in the nar- 
row streets. This old city of the dead lay in the bright 
sunlight connecting the present and the past in a pecul- 
iar and melancholy manner. 

So much has been written and said of Pompeii 
that it seems useless to write more, and yet it seems 
proper to give one's own observations after a visit 
here. The ruins which have been excavated have de- 
veloped many wonders. The streets are narrow but 
regular in their intersections and paved with solid 
blocks of stone which are considerably worn by the 
wheels of chariots that passed over them when the city 
was inhabited. The sidewalks are narrow but well-built 
and stepping stones narrow enough to go between the 
chariot wheels allow for crossing the streets without 
the necessity of descending to the level of the road- 
way. 

A stream from the mountains carried through a 
round brick tunnel supplied the city with water. A 
covered sewer traversed the main street and house 
drains were connected to it by lead pipes which show 
wiped joints just as plumbers make them to-day. 

Pompeii was not a large city, but it was evidently a 
city of great wealth and considerable activity. Some 

57 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

of the finest statuary in the world has been recovered 
from the ruins of Pompeii and most exquisite frescoes 
in bright colors are still visible on the walls. There are 
fanciful pictures executed in the highest style of art, 
that have been copied by famous artists even in these 
later days. There are still magnificent mosaics that 
look as though they had been completed but yesterday 
and no one could imagine that they had been under 
ashes nearly two thousand years. 

In the great museum at Naples are many utensils 
and fixtures recovered from this old town. There are 
scales with their miniature weights to weigh gold. There 
are larger scales, all kinds of ornaments and trinkets 
and old, strong iron safes. It is truly remarkable how 
these things have been so well preserved. In the city 
there are old stone well curbs, showing the grooves worn 
by ropes in hauling water from them. There is the 
house of Syracuse, the banker, with his name plate on 
the pillars. There are the terra cotta casks of the wine 
merchant, the stone mills of the baker who ground his 
own flour, and the ovens in which his bread was baked. 
There are the theatres of the pleasure-goers, the prison 
of the malefactors, and the tombs of the dead. The city 
stands and imparts a silent and majestic awe. Where 
thousands lived in the long ago nobody lives now, and the 
few sentries must have a silent and lonely time. As 
you pass among the old ruins an occasional lizard runs 
briskly before you and scuds away into a crevice in the 
stone wall and this adds additional weirdness to an al- 
ready melancholy picture. 

The whole vast ruin by its evidences of similarity 
to modern ideas, its fine specimens of art, its solid 

58 



RECENT DESTRUCTION 

streets and its graceful columns, connects the present 
age with the first century of the Christian era. And as 
we look over the whole, we wonder if all the great boasts 
we make of the wonderful progress in the world's af- 
fairs and in civilization is not. only boasting after all. 
Were not the people of Pompeii as far advanced, or 
nearly so, and as wise as we are to-day? And is it not 
as true to-day as it was when Solomon wrote even be- 
fore the foundation walls of Pompeii were laid — "There 
is nothing new under the sun"? 

RECENT DESTRUCTION 

We drove out and took a look at the village near 
the town of Torre del Annunziata, which was destroyed 
by Vesuvius last year just as Pompeii had been de- 
stroyed so many years before, and just as St. Pierre in 
the Island of Martinique was destroyed a few years 
ago. Before the eruption it was only a small village 
and most of the houses were of not much importance. 
The lava swept over some of the buildings, covering 
some and demolishing others. One two-story building 
which withstood the flow, and which we went into, had 
been restored and people were living in it. The lava 
had swept all around it and had filled it to the ceiling 
of the first story, but the owner had cleaned it out and 
had started a wine shop, and as the government had un- 
earthed the road directly in front of it, giving him a 
good location, he seemed to be doing a thriving busi- 
ness. But he was the sole occupant of a sea of deso- 
lation and certainly was entitled to all the profit that 
accrued to him. 

The lava is a porous substance and its general ap- 
pearance is the same as a field of cinders mixed with 

59 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

clinkers from an ordinary coal furnace. The whole field 
of lava is still very hot and a few inches below the sur- 
face is hot enough to blister the skin. Eesidents of the 
neighborhood who lost their homes are now saving on 
their bill for fuel, for they dig down a little way and 
find the lava so hot that they can boil eggs or fry beef- 
steak by the heat that is going to waste. 

It is peculiar how people take chances on the ele- 
ments and run the risk of calamities that are practically 
sure to come. Every year we have a wail from the 
people whose homes are inundated and destroyed along 
the lowlands of the Ohio, Mississippi and other Ameri- 
can rivers. San Francisco is now being rebuilt over a 
volcanic mine that is liable to explode again at any 
time. Galveston is again ready for another sea wave. 
So these people take it for granted that there will be 
no more trouble from Vesuvius. At the present time 
the mountain is cultivated nearly to the top. There are 
two substances sent forth by the eruptions, lava and 
ashes. The ashes after a time seem to be very fertile, 
and little homes hang on the mountain side and hun- 
dreds of little vineyards and truck gardens occupy 
every available foot of space, notwithstanding that it is 
intermingled with great boulders of pumice stone and 
lava. Immense retaining walls are being built along the 
side of the mountain to restrain the lava from coming 
down onto the people below. This seemed to me a 
futile attempt of man to intercept the wrath of God. 
When Vesuvius has another convulsion these great walls 
will be swept away like straw before a tempest. As 
another city is now built over the ruins of Herculaneum 
so other cities will be built over these villages and cities 

60 



VIRGIL'S TOMB 

after Vesuvius has wreaked its vengeance on them. And 
so it will proceed year after year, generation after gen- 
eration, and age after age yet to come. 

VIRGIL'S TOMB 

We had now, in a hurried way, seen almost every- 
thing in this vicinity which seemed to attract special 
attention. There was much of interest of jwhich we 
have not found time to write. At the last moment we 
remembered that we had not visited the tomb of Virgil, 
who is buried on a high bluff in the western part of 
Naples. We found, when we came to the location, that 
the tomb of this eminent poet is now the individual 
property of a family that operates one of the traveling 
dairies. The young man said that he would have to 
show us around, as his father was in the city with the 
cows. This family appears to have a corner on the 
poet's grave, and do not let anybody shed tears over it 
unless they receive a franc as a consideration for each 
shedder who" sheds. 

We crawled up a long pair of stairs, steep and dan- 
gerous and much worn. When we reached a high alti- 
tude we struck another pair of stairs. These went down 
nearly parallel with the ones up which we had come. 
The grave is within a vault made to receive the bodies 
of all of Virgil 's family. The stone designating Virgil 's 
resting place is a simple slab about three feet high, set 
in the floor of the vault, with a few lines in Latin, stat- 
ing name, age and death. It is a sort of out of the way 
place and apparently is not visited by many travelers. 
Virgil should have a public tomb and a monument of 
his own instead of a small stone and a private grave 
owned by an impecunious dairyman. 

61 



Chapter IV 



ROME 



"Who is there who could set foot in the Eternal City 
without more or less emotion? A city into whose his- 
tory are woven more events, both good and bad, than can 
be associated with any other municipality or center of 
civilization on the face of the globe. And yet, in the 
hurly burly of emerging from a crowded train through 
a modern railway station, with carriers grabbing for 
your baggage and half a hundred hotel men crying for 
your patronage, with noise everywhere and a confu- 
sion of many tongues equal to the confusion of Babel, it 
is not an opportune time to call into action emotions of 
a very reverential or spiritual nature. So I am con- 
strained to say that our arrival in Rome was like any 
other commonplace arrival in any large city. There- 
fore we simply went to the hotel, secured a room, en- 
tered our names on the register, ordered a warm bath, 
went to bed and postponed the emotional circumstances 
until a more convenient season. And so we spent our 
first night in Rome. 

And now comes the tug of war to write a letter 
from and about Rome. I must confess that I do not 
know where, when or how to begin. Its history is so 
long, so eventful and so intimately connected with the 

62 



ROME 

affairs of the world, that it cannot be ignored. Its 
ruins and relics are so numerous and so immense that 
they should have a liberal treatment. Its churches are 
so grand, and so numerous, that a mere mention of 
each would fill a volume, and the city itself in its mod- 
ern aspect is so enterprising that it must claim atten- 
tion, and, last of all, I feel that we had only begun to 
know Rome by the time we were compelled to leave. 
Yet I have so much to choose from that I do not know 
what to leave and what to take that will give any ade- 
quate idea of Rome and still keep this series of letters 
within reasonable bounds. 

Tradition says that Rome was founded about 2,700 
years ago. Whether it was laid out as a boom town to 
sell city lots or whether it just grew, I have not been 
able to determine. There is a story that it was started 
by two young men who had a wolf for a mother, and 
that one was named "Rum" and the other "Rum Ome- 
let." I could not authenticate this story and seriously 
doubt its truth. Passing that over and coming down 
to what seems to be more probable, it is said that Rome 
was founded at least 750 years before Christ, and some 
historians claim that it was long before that. It had its 
varying fortunes until, as the Roman Empire with its 
Csesars, it reached its zenith. This was about the time 
of the beginning of the Christian era, when its popula- 
tion is estimated to have been over one million people. 
Augustus, who reigned from thirty-one years before, and 
until fourteen years after the commencement of the 
Christian era, it is said, found Rome a city of brick and 
left it a city of marble. At the end of his reign 
Rome was the grandest and most magnificent city 

63 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the world has ever known. Nero's fire, which occurred 
in the year 64 A. D., destroyed almost the entire city, 
and it never recovered from that blow. The city was 
rebuilt under the rule of Nero and his successors, but 
never reached its former glory. Then came the as- 
saults of the Goths and the Vandals about four hun- 
dred years after the commencement of the Christian era, 
and the downfall of Rome and the Roman Empire was 
complete. Since then the city of Rome has never arisen 
to anything approaching its former glory. 

The story of the wars, vandalism, disaster, devil- 
ment and destruction, that finally reduced the city to a 
population in 1350 of less than 20,000 people, would be 
a long and painful one if followed up, so we will treat 
of other matters, perhaps more cheerful. 

THE NEW ERA 

Rome started on a new era after this time. 
Art, learning and civic improvement were encouraged 
by the various popes who followed, and Rome began to 
grow. In the year 1870 it had a population of 221,000. 
At the time the troubles between the church and the gov- 
ernment were settled, Rome was made the capital of 
the government as well as the head of the church, the 
one "exerting the temporal power, the other the spiritual 
power, and both have worked together and given Rome 
a boost that rivals the spirit of enterprise which we 
think in America belongs exclusively to us. Since that 
time, or in a little over thirty years, Rome has more 
than doubled in population and now has nearly half a 
million people. It has lots of nice new buildings, good 
streets, an excellent street car system, good water works 
and more superb hotels than almost any city of its size 

64 



ST. PETER'S 

in the world. If you come to Rome with an idea that it 
is an old fogy town, given over entirely to religion, you 
will soon have that idea dispelled. You will find that 
you are in a city where both religion and commerce are 
carried along on a wholesale basis. The churches, which 
beat the world, are mostly in the old part of the city, 
while the new part, where the railway station is situ- 
ated, is modern in every respect, and the solid stone 
paved streets are in a roar with the wheels of traffic 
similar to that of lower Broadway in New, York, or the 
wholesale district of Chicago. The first thing that 
confronts you as you emerge from the station, which is 
a well constructed stone edifice six hundred feet long, 
with a steel and glass arch roof, is two lines of omni- 
buses backed up, each line a block in length. Beyond 
these are street cars going in every direction, and you 
know at once that you are in a live town. 

The national palace is on a considerable hill and a 
tunnel has recently been constructed through this hill 
under the palace to open a new street. The tunnel is 
nearly a quarter of a mile long, at least sixty feet in 
width, has a double street car track, is lined from end to 
end with white tile and handsomely illuminated day 
and night. And this is the way they are doing things 
in Rome now. 

ST. PETER'S 

The first morning in Rome, of course, we went to 
St. Peter's, as almost every other visitor does. 

At first sight, the exterior of St. Peter's is some- 
what disappointing. It was a serious blunder in the 
construction of this grand edifice when the builders de- 
parted from the plan of that noble old architect, the 

65 

—5 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

grand master of all old masters, Michael Angelo, and 
added to his work an additional plan of a latQr architect. 
This resulted in placing before the grand creation Mi- 
chael Angelo inspired, a solid block house that largely 
obscures the dignity and majesty of what otherwise 
would have been far in excess of any other structure in 
the world. Owing to a block or two of old style houses, 
filled with stores, restaurants and wine rooms, which 
should be removed, St. Peter's cannot be seen until 
you are very near the entrance to the piazza. 

The piazza is the opening in front of St. Peter's, 
with its two colonnades, its obelisk and fountains. Even 
then, the majestic dome, 426 feet to the top, seems much 
less than it really is. The effect on St. Peter's exterior 
of departing from Michael Angelo 's plan is said, by 
all authorities, to have been disastrous. The effect of 
the additions made by the later architects is about the 
same as would result if some one would take a square 
building without a dome, and attach it to the front of 1 
the Illinois state house, and thus hide the beauty and 
grace which it now possesses. I think almost everybody 
is more or less disappointed at first sight of St. Peter's. 
When one has reached the entrance to the piazza, he 
does not realize that it is nearly a quarter of a mile to 
the church door, and the structure with its square front, 
therefore, seems smaller than he expected. Besides this 
it is built of limestone that has withstood the elements 
for several hundred years, and it looks somewhat dingy 
and weather-beaten. But as one approaches the church, 
the immensity, the magnificence and majesty of the edi- 
fice grow upon him until any person with a fair ap- 
preciation of a great building must stand amazed at the 

66 



ST. PETER'S 

mountain of stone before him, and the grandeur and 
beauty presented. 

Everybody has seen the pictures of the piazza, the 
opening in front of St. Peter's, and I assume that they 
have wished they could see it. It is a magnificent ap- 
proach to a great building. The opening is 780 feet 
across. The colonnades are formed of 284 round 
columns and eighty- four piers of square columns, each 
column some six feet in diameter and high in propor- 
tion. The columns are in four rows and look close to- 
gether, and yet between the two center rows there is 
room to drive two carriages or automobiles abreast, and 
the other spaces are nearly as wide. Passing through 
this colonnade you enter under a huge portico into the 
church. If you ever thought St. Peter 's was small or 
that it lacked dignity or anything else, you wonder 
what gave you that impression. You are transfixed with 
wonder, over-awed with the splendor, and your mind 
dazed with the immensity and grandeur before you, 
around you, over your head and even under your feet. 
The nave, that is, the space between the two center rows 
of columns that looks like a great hallway as you look 
to the farther end of the church, is as wide as a street 
and stretches away some 600 feet, and the vaulted, or- 
namented and gilded ceiling is so high that you stand 
with open-eyed wonder as you endeavor to grasp the 
proportions with which you are surrounded. 

We think the new bank building in our town, eight 
stories high, is pretty well up in the air, and yet you 
could stand this same building in the main corridor of 
St. Peter's, have plenty of room to drive on either side 
of it and it would not reach more than two-thirds of the 

67 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

way to the ceiling. Every inch of the interior is 
covered either with magnificent sculpture, gilding or 
carving. There are scores of monuments or figures in 
marble, any one of which would represent a fortune in 
dollars if a financial value could be put upon it. In 
great panels are what appear to be sublime paintings, 
ten, twenty or thirty feet high. On examination you 
find that they are mosaic work, and that each picture is 
composed of thousands and thousands of small pieces of 
stone of all colors, gathered from all parts of the world, 
each cut to fit its place and matched and put together 
with such delicacy of shade and tint, that it is only by 
the closest scrutiny that the pictures can be distin- 
guished from oil paintings, of which they are exact re- 
productions in all the colors of the original work. 

In every niche there are tombs of saints and popes 
with monuments of skill in sculpture, marble and 
bronze, that are beyond the belief of one to realize pos- 
sible. 

There are columns from Solomon's Temple, por- 
phyry from Egypt, art contributions from the forum 
of Eome, from the houses of the Cassars, and from all 
the countries of the ancient and modern world. Grand 
altars and Virgins with solid gold settings to diamonds 
and other most precious stones. But who can enumer- 
ate what there is to be found in St. Peter's? A cata- 
logue with one line devoted to each object would be a 
large volume, so I will not try to enumerate all here. 
The most extravagant description would fall far short 
of the glorious realities that are in profusion every- 
where. 



68 



THE VATICAN 

THE VATICAN 

Next to St. Peter's, and adjoining the same, is the 
Vatican palace, the home of the Pope. It is said to be 
the largest palace in the world. It is a large, rambling 
structure, built and added to at many different times. 
The exterior is not impressive and, unless one knew, he 
would not imagine from looking at it from the outside, 
what stores of inestimable value it contains. Beneath 
its roof is, I believe, conceded to be the grandest and 
most valuable art gallery and most extensive collection 
of sculpture now on the face of the globe. The govern- 
ment of Italy recently paid $90,000 for one statue, and 
in the Vatican there are hundreds, any one of which is 
worth, if there was any way of measuring their value, 
a hundred times more than this one that has cost Italy 
so much. 

There are paintings and statues by Michael Angelo, 
the great, architect of St. Peter's, who must have been 
the most capable man of his or any other time. There 
is a general opinion that no man can do more than one 
kind of work well. Michael Angelo refutes that idea. 
He was one of the greatest painters the world has ever 
known. His sculpture is acknowledged to be among the 
very best, and he was the architect of the dome and 
much of the other parts of St. Peter's church. In addi- 
tion to this, he was a scholar, a statesman and a teacher, 
and he has left more evidences of his greatness in sev- 
eral of these lines than any other man who has ever 
lived and who may have devoted all his attention to one 
line of art. 

But I am digressing. In the art galleries there 
are pictures by Eaphael and every other great artist 

69 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

that could be named. There are figures in marble and 
bronze by the greatest workers in stone and metal that 
have ever lived upon the earth. All the schools of art, 
from the beginning of civilization down to the present 
time, are represented. There are jewels and presents 
that have been made to popes and kings for centuries. 
There are mosaic floors, a single panel of which would 
be worth a fortune. There is the Sistine chapel with 
ceiling so high and with such wonderful frescoes that 
visitors spend hours holding mirrors before them hori- 
zontally and looking down into them to study the ceil- 
ing above. 

And so I might go on, column after column, and 
page after page, and still the half would not be told. 

There are some odd and curious things about the 
works of the old masters. Eaphael, when painting a 
church scene or any picture in which several figures ap- 
peared, always put his own head and face on one of the 
persons in the picture. In one he would appear as a 
prophet; in another as a shepherd; in another as a gen- 
tleman, etc. ; but he was always there. Some other 
great artists followed this habit. Several of the artists 
placed in the portraits of their pictures the faces of 
their teachers, and one of Raphael's pupils used his 
teacher's pictures. So Raphael appears in a greater 
number of grand pictures than perhaps any other man. 
One of the artists nearly always put Dante's face in his 
pictures. He was a friend of Dante and considered his 
profile very beautiful. There are a number of statues 
that, through the work of the Vandals that sacked 
Rome from time to time, were broken and have been 
restored. In one instance I noticed a statue that, when 

70 



THE VATICAN 

found, had lost one leg. Michael Angelo restored the 
statue, adding the missing leg. The original leg was 
afterwards found and was in an entirely different po- 
sition from the one added by the eminent sculptor. As 
the first was in position and doing all the work required 
by a motionless statue, the old leg was placed along- 
side to show how great men's ideas differed even in the 
shaping of a leg. 

In St. Peter's, near the main altar, there are two 
figures, one of Dante and the other of Beatrice, Dante's 
loved one. "When the piece was first placed there the 
figure of Beatrice was nude. This was offensive to some 
persons ; so a flowing robe of marble was added and the 
work was done so well and so gracefully, that no one 
would notice the addition unless attention was called to 
it. There are both pictures and sculpture that repre- 
sent odd ideas that culminated in the brains of these 
old masters. There are some depicting horrible ideas, 
and others that represent pleasing conceptions. Some 
that make your blood creep as you look at them ; others 
that fill you with emotions of a nobler sort and others 
that force a smile despite you. 

After all, a visit to these galleries, where the most 
sublime art is so copiously presented, cannot but im- 
press you with a feeling of reverential awe. As you 
stand before these rich paintings, portraying the scenes 
surrounding the birth of Christ, His death and resur- 
rection, painted centuries ago, the colors nearly as bright 
as though painted to-day, you are glad that such artists 
lived and did this work and did it so well. Or, as you 
stand before some colossal statue in pure white marble, 
whose fixed eyes have apparently gazed into the far be- 

71 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

yond without a faltering glance for two thousand years, 
you may feel inferior to even a piece of inanimate stone 
when you consider that it may be standing here two 
thousand years hence, the same as now, admired by 
multitudes, while you have passed away and may be as 
completely eliminated and forgotten as though you had 
never lived a single day. 



72 



Chapter V 



SAN GIOVANNI 

Next in importance to the church of St. Peter in 
Rome is the church of San Giovanni in Laterano, which 
dates back to the time of Constantine the Great. The 
emperor presented the pope with a palace that had be- 
longed to a wealthy family of the Lateranus. Constan- 
tine, it might be mentioned, was the emperor who 
turned his back on Rome and moved his capital east- 
ward to the city of Byzantium which he, with becoming 
modesty, changed to Constantinople. In later years, 
after many hard fought battles, Constantinople fell in- 
to the hands of the Moslems, and Rome again became 
the head of the Christian government. 

But to return to the church, which was established 
through the generosity of Constantine. It has had a 
long and eventful career. It was several times burned, 
several times rebuilt, overhauled and improved until 
now it is a great structure. Even in recent years it has 
had its exciting events. In 1870, when the difficulties 
arose between the government and the church, Garibaldi 
opened his guns on this church, and its walls to-day 
show the indentures made by the cannon bails at that 
time. The church is now being redecorated and re- 
stored through the generosity of a wealthy resident of 
Philadelphia, who, it is said, has placed half a million 

73 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

dollars at the disposal of the church for this purpose. 
When the work is finished it will be a magnificent struc- 
ture. In our city a church that represented a half mil- 
lion dollars in its entire construction would be consid- 
ered a pretty extensive affair, while here it is proposed 
to expend that amount to overhaul and brighten up one 
that already appears about all right. "When the work 
is done, the remains of Pope Leo will rest here, in ac- 
cordance with a wish expressed before his death. 

This church has a baptistry in which Constantine 
the Great was baptized in the year 308, the roof of 
which is supported by eight immense columns of por- 
phyry of great value. San Giovanni is the Pope's 
church, as Bishop of Rome. At St. Peter's he is sov- 
ereign pontiff of the world. So this church ranks very 
high in the estimation of all Catholics. It has an altar 
at which only the pope officiates. It is beneath a 
canopy, supported by antique gilded bronze columns. 
Above this altar is a receptacle said to contain the heads 
of St. Peter and St. Paul. There is also in this church 
a wooden table said to be from the catacombs and used 
there by St. Peter as an altar. There are other sacred 
relics and some very fine mosaic pictures. 

No one who has not seen a great mosaic picture can 
fully appreciate the intricate work, the complete detail, 
the delicate lights and shades and striking colors that 
can be produced in stone and the effectiveness of such a 
picture. There is not a color nor shade that can be laid 
upon canvas by the brush of a painter that cannot be 
duplicated by the artist who fully understands mosaic 
work. Go to some fine church and see the beautiful 
pictures that can be brought out in a stained glass 

74 



MAKING OF MOSAIC 

window. Then consider what can be done in stone when 
taking such colors as those that appear in the window, 
but using hundreds and even thousands of minute pieces 
of stone where the window artist uses but one piece of 
glass. After this perhaps you can form some idea of 
the beauty and value of a mosaic picture. Such pictures 
as these can be found in every great cathedral in Italy ; 
many of them are as large as the side of a good sized 
dwelling house. I think some single pictures we have 
seen contain as many as a million separate pieces of 
stone. 

THE MAKING OF MOSAIC 

We went to a mosaic factory in Florence and saw 
the procees of making these pictures. Although there 
is some difference between Florentine mosaics and Ro- 
man mosaics, this factory gave us some idea of the pa- 
tience required to accomplish the work of a complete 
picture. The stones, which are at first cut into thin 
sheets, are cut by hand into small pieces of proper 
shape with a thin wire which is used as a saw, with 
water and ground emery. "While we were there several 
men were reproducing an oil painting about 24x30 
inches. The manager said it was being done on an order 
from Tiffany of New York, and they expect to complete 
it in about two years. They had been then working at 
it for some time and already had one flower and part of 
a human figure ready to put in place. It reminded me 
of the story of the farmer and the patient and indus- 
trious tramp. When the tramp applied for something 
to eat, the farmer said he would supply his wants if he 
would work for him. So he gave the tramp a maul and 
pointed out the biggest tree on the place and told the 

75 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

trainp to cut it down with the maul. The tramp went 
at it and the sound of the stroke of that maul went on 
all that afternoon until sundown. When the farmer 
called the tramp in to supper, he asked him how he was 
getting along. In a wonderfully cheerful and optimis- 
tic tone, the tramp said he was doing first rate, and that 
he already had the bark loosened almost half way round 
on one side. This is about the progress a good workman 
or a high-priced artist makes in constructing a mosaic 
picture. Mosaics are used to- reproduce or replace 
paintings in the churches. For time, when . meas- 
ured by years and hundreds of years, is bound to dim 
and disfigure frescoes and oil paintings, while a thou- 
sand years, when applied to a mosaic picture, is but as 
a single day. 

THE SACRED STEPS 

Across the street from San Giovanni is a building 
containing the "Scalla Santa," 'meaning the sacred 
steps. The edifice is of peculiar construction. There 
are jthree pairs of broad stairs, side by side, all ap- 
parently exactly alike, divided by walls and with an 
altar at the top of the center flight. The center ones 
are said to be from the house of Pontius Pilate in Jeru- 
salem, and were those used by Christ when he was sum- 
moned before Pilate. They were brought to Rome in 
the year 326. Everyone who worships at this altar 
must ascend to it on their knees by the central stairway, 
saying a prayer at each step as they proceed. No hu- 
man foot profanes these stairs. It would not be allowed, 
and no one would care to commit so serious an offense 
against the religious opinion of those who ascend on 

76 



THE PANTHEON 

their knees with contrite hearts. The stairways at "the 
sides are used for descending from the altar. 

There are a large number of other churches in Rome, 
each of which could be the subject of a long and, to 
some persons, interesting chapter, but it is not my pur- 
pose to dwell too long on any one subject, so I will but 
briefly mention a few of the many. 

SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE 

There is the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. This 
is the largest of eighty churches in Rome, dedicated alone 
to the Virgin. It was built by Pope Liberius on ground 
said to have been indicated to him by a miraculous fall 
of snow on a certain day in August in fulfillment of a 
dream which he had had to that effect. The ceiling is 
bright with decorations of gold. It was the first gold 
ever brought from America and was presented to the 
pope by Queen Isabella of Spain for this purpose. In 
the high altar in an ancient basin of porphyry rest the 
remains of St. Matthew. There are also four boards 
said to be from the holy manger in which Christ was- 
born. As we were making our rounds in this church, a 
wedding was proceeding in one of the chapels. It was 
about 10 a. m., and the bride and groom were attended 
by a number of their relatives and friends. The groom 
wore a silk hat and Prince Albert coat, and the bride 
wore a tailor-made walking or traveling suit, so there 
does not seem to be much difference between Rome and 
our country when it comes to morning weddings. 

THE PANTHEON. 

The Pantheon, which is the only perfect specimen 
of Roman architecture now in existence, is used as a 

77 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

church, having been dedicated to that purpose in the 
year 609. Of all the great buildings constructed by the 
early Komans, all others succumbed to the ravages of 
time, hastened along by fires, wars and vandalism. But 
this building was well built, and would have required 
more work to destroy it than to leave it as it is, and 
that perhaps accounts for its good condition. It is per- 
fectly round, the interior being 145 feet in diameter 
and 145 feet in height. The walls are 22 feet thick. 
Its bronze doors are at least a foot thick and are good 
specimens of such work. The portico is supported by 
sixteen granite columns, five feet in circumference and 
41 feet high. The roof of the portico formerly rested 
on bronze columns, but in 1632, Pope Urban (whose 
real name was Barberina) removed these columns, part 
of which he used in the high altar of St. Peter's, and the 
others he used to make cannons. He replaced them 
with rough, irregular stones that still remain. This 
pope seems to have been well named, for it was certainly 
a barbarous proceeding. The edifice is lighted by an 
opening in the center of the stone roof, 30 feet in di- 
ameter. There are no other windows and it is remark- 
able how much light this gives, but it would not be very 
good in rainy seasons if the church had a full house. 

San Pietro, in Vincoli, is another church, not so re- 
markable as an edifice as it is for the treasures it con- 
tains — the chief one of which is the great marble statue 
of Moses by Michael Angelo. This church is also the de- 
pository of the chains which bound St. Peter, and a 
number of other relics. 

"ST. PAUL'S OUTSIDE THE WALLS" 

Another remarkable church is known as "St. Paul's 
78 



THE CATACOMBS 

outside the walls. " It is practically out in the country, 
away from city life and the big, rich houses. And yet 
if we had such a church in the heart of Chicago or New 
York city, it would be known throughout the whole 
country for its size and magnificence. It is 390 feet long 
by 195 feet in width. The ceiling is carried by eighty 
beautiful granite columns. They are about the size of 
the columns supporting the porticoes of the Illinois 
state house, but each in one solid piece and each at least 
sixty feet high. It has six large columns of alabaster, 
presented by the Khedive of Egypt, and some malachite 
pedestals which were presented by the Emperor of Rus- 
sia. A pleasing frieze or border near the ceiling is made 
of large medallion portraits of all the popes, worked in 
mosaic, extending entirely around the building, there 
being more than 200 medallions in all. Although this 
church dates from the year 388, the present structure is 
comparatively new, having been preceded by several edi- 
fices on the same ground. The dedication of the present 
building occurred in 1854. I cannot understand why so 
much money and labor was expended upon an edifice 
ic such a remote place. Such a building is not often so 
situated. 

THE CATACOMBS 

About the gloomiest place at Rome is the catacombs, 
where the early Christian martyrs were buried, but as 
all the bodies have been removed, there is nothing now 
to be seen there except a succession of irregular caves 
carved out of the solid rock, one below the other, and 
each with receptacles that have formerly contained 
bodies. Yet thousands of people go every year and 
grope through these underground passages with no 

79 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

light except a lighted taper, furnished by the monks 
who have charge of the place, and who live apparently 
on the proceeds of the admission fees paid and gratui- 
ties offered. While this was the gloomiest place visited, 
the monk who showed us through was about the j oiliest 
we have met in all our travels so far. He catechised us 
and I think he rather enjoyed what he knew about reli- 
gious matters and what we did not. 

GREWSOME DECORATIONS 

The Church of the Capuchin monks is about as 
grewsome as the catacombs, but has a novelty in its 
grewsomeness that is peculiar to this particular place 
and attracts many visitors. There are a number of 
chapels in the basement which are decorated with the 
bones of the departed monks. In connection with the 
church is a small burial lot in which the body of each 
brother is placed when he dies; as soon as the flesh 
disintegrates and leaves the bones, they are taken up, 
cleaned, and used to decorate the chapels. I should 
judge, from looking at the decorations, there must be 
a good many more monks dead than alive. There must 
be over a thousand skulls and a due proportion of other 
bones to go with them. Not only are the altars con- 
structed of skulls and bones, but the side walls and 
ceilings are also covered and decorated. They appear 
to be nailed on the walls and ceilings and piled one on 
top of another and fastened in place with wires to build 
objects of worship and ornament. It is really surpris- 
ing what artistic work can be done with bones by a 
skillful artist who has enough of them. 

Almost everyone has seen the ornamental booths or 
stalls made of corn and vegetables that are fixed up at 

80 




THE COLISEUM. 

"After all we came back and took another look at the Coliseum which, I 
believe, justly ranks as the greatest and grandest ruin in the world."— 
Page 88. 



GREWSOME DECORATIONS 

the State or County fairs. Now, if you will just imag- 
ine the" substitution of bones for vegetables or cereals, 
you have the idea. Instead of taking ears of corn and 
cutting them into short sections, and nailing them on 
the wall to make words or fancy borders, you take 
human backbones, separate each joint and nail them 
up just as you would the corn and you have the same 
effect. In place of a rosette of carrots, you make a 
rosette of finger bones, use skulls in place of pumpkins, 
and little toe bones to represent the petals of cauli- 
flower. Make a rocco border by taking a lot of ribs and 
reversing every other one. The effect is really artistic. 
Suppose you want a pillar six inches or even, a foot in 
diameter. Take several thigh bones, fasten them to- 
gether and place them on top of each other endwise, six, 
eight or ten feet high, and they look like carved or orna- 
mented Corinthian columns made of marble. Take a 
skull and cross-bones, around them you can make a 
border of little finger joints, then another of one size 
larger and so on until you have a center-piece that 
could hardly be duplicated in any other place. But it 
would tax your imagination to reproduce all the figures 
that have been worked out by these patient monks. 
They have been at it a long time. The several rooms 
or chapels are all decorated in different schemes, each 
embracing new and original features. They have 
arches, columns, rosettes, borders, diagrams, etc. Aside 
from the oddity of the idea, it presents a considerable 
revenue as everybody who goes to see the church and 
examines these bones is expected to leave a modest con- 
tribution to help along with the good work and almost 
every visitor does so. It is an odd idea, but the living 

81 



SIXTY DAYS IN EURaPE 

seem to enjoy the work, and are looking, perhaps hap- 
pily, forward to the time when their bones shall help to 
ornament the premises they love so well. 

I suppose everyone expects to die sometime. It is 
not a cheerful contemplation at the best. I can hardly 
see how it would add any pleasure to the thought to 
feel confident that after one has been gathered to Mother 
Earth, he should again be brought forth from his tomb 
and have his bones scoured and used to festoon a damp 
basement in a dark, dreary church, where his skull 
would grin with a thousand more and his back-bone 
be nailed up on the ceiling, joint by joint, to scare the 
devil out of Rome. 

There are many beautiful things in Eome, some old, 
some new. Its irregular streets and open squares here 
and there give opportunities for locating great monu- 
ments and beautiful fountains, and every place where 
they could be has been taken advantage of. Obelisks 
have been brought from Egypt and columns from all 
the world. Bronze and marble statues, the accumula- 
tion of centuries, are to be found everywhere. I think 
I am safe in saying that there is more water run through 
the public fountains than the entire water supply of 
many large cities in the United States. 



82 



Chapter VI 



THE STORES OF ROME 

The stores of Rome are not on the average very 
large, but they are very handsome and there are many 
stocks of rich jewelry and art works. As many people, 
including the capitalists of all the world, visit Rome, 
and some buy extravagantly, it makes a great market 
for the very finest of art goods and jewelry. The 
stores are dazzling. The average tourist does not buy 
very much, but all buy something. They usually com- 
mence by "pricing" various articles that run from one 
thousand to fifty thousand francs, and finally settle on 
something that is offered for fifteen francs, for which 
they offer seven, and then buy it at about ten. Then 
they wonder how much less the dealer would have taken 
if they had held out and are sure they offered too much. 
The dealers have no fixed prices and when it comes to 
trading with them, the dealer works on the principle of 
David Harum : ' ' Do unto others as they would do you, 
but do 'em fust. ' ' They generally do the tourist ' ' fust. ' ' 
When a bunch of tourists get back to the hotel, they 
usually show what they have bought. There is always, 
of course, a great variety of articles, but invariably 
there is a greater variety of prices than of articles. 

THE KING 

One day when Mr. Kelley was driving us "pro and 

83 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

con," he called our attention to the number of police- 
men on one street. They averaged about one every fifty 
feet on each side of the street. He said the king was 
out taking his morning ride and would soon pass that 
way. We directed him then to stop in a convenient 
place and await his majesty's coming. We hadn't long 
to wait before the king came by, and we caught a 
glimpse of him. Only a glimpse, as the carriage in 
which he was riding was entirely surrounded with of- 
ficers on horses, about sixteen in all. Notwithstanding 
the hill up which they were coming was pretty steep, 
they were on a rather brisk trot. There were three of- 
ficers seated in the carriage with the king, all in uni- 
form, the same as he wore, although his was plainer 
than those of the other officers who surrounded him. 
Everybody lifted their hats as the king passed, but there 
was no cheering or other demonstration. It was the 
first real live king that I had ever seen. I could not see 
that there was much difference between him and 
ordinary men. I was not particularly stunned. In fact, 
I have noticed that one king does not ordinarily affect 
anybody much, nor does even two or three kings, but 
four kings seen under some circumstances, I am told, 
is enough to paralyze a stout heart. 

ROME'S RUINS 

A visit to Rome, while usually considered a pleas- 
ure, has its melancholy side and the visitor, if he is 
sensitive, is liable to have a feeling of depression creep 
over him that cannot be lightly put aside. There are 
so many visible evidences of the city's former great- 
ness, that are in such complete ruin and show their age 
and damage so painfully that, with the work of 

84 



ROME'S RUINS 

devastation and destruction with which he is surround- 
ed, one cannot but feel discouraged. 

The Forum is but a mass of broken and battered 
stone. Only a few columns are standing to tell of its 
former beauty and greatness, and the miserable ped- 
dlers and beggars torture the life out of you while 
you are trying to get into harmony and study what 
there is left. Where Caesar fell, there is nothing left 
but the base of Pompey's statue. There is not enough 
of the temple of Castor and Pollux left to show that 
they ever had a temple, and the temple of the Vestal 
Virgins is but a tottering ruin. The old aqueduct 
stretching miles across the country, arch after arch, 
some places as high as thirty or forty feet, seems to 
represent such a vast waste of labor that it is hard to 
appreciate it as a magnificent ruin. The great baths 
of Caracalla are stripped of all their marble and stand 
as great skeletons of a past age. The baths of Diocle- 
tian are demoralized and the circus of Maximus is 
overgrown with vegetation and new houses. Beauti- 
ful marble statues are battered and broken and are so 
common that I noticed one marble bust that a gardener 
was using to prop up a dilapidated sheet iron stove 
pipe. 

Everything is so old and the people who built them 
so dead, and you are carried back to such a remote age, 
you sometimes wonder whether you are of the present 
time or whether you are not as dead as the old masters 
themselves. 

Every church and every cathedral you visit has 
popes, bishops, emperors, poets, generals and cardinals 
buried profusely in niches in the walls under the altars, 

85 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

between the windows or under the slabs on which you 
walk, till you feel as though you were the angel of 
death, walking over the battle-field of life on the dead 
bodies of the mighty leaders who have fallen in the 
fray. It is an odd custom they have in many churches 
of burying the great people of the age in the church 
floor, then covering the graves with a marble slab on 
which is chiseled the likeness, in life size, of the illus- 
trious person who rests beneath. Then they allow peo- 
ple to walk over the grave until they wear away every 
semblance that the picture might have borne to the 
original. Eyes, nose, ears, chin, and all, become worn 
to nothingness, and still the people walk. I was some- 
what squeamish at first and trod lightly over the graves 
of such men as Cassar and Cato, Pompey or Cicero, 
but I finally got so used to it that I could walk over 
the graves and slide my feet over the faces of kings, 
emperors and prelates with as little reverence as over 
common paving brick. And yet, in thinking of it, 
even now it does not seem just right. You cannot see 
Rome and omit carrying with you the mantle of death 
that, before you are through with it, will hang heavily 
upon you. To walk among, below, between and over 
the graves of the old masters and heroes of two thou- 
sand years, to say you have done so, seems to be a sort 
of ghoulish performance and altogether too serious 
for pleasure. 

There are many things to see in Rome that cannot 
be classed under the head of pleasure. They are proper 
enough, however, if the heart be right. "We went to the 
little cemetery where rest the bodies of the English 
poets, Shelley and Keats. Somewhat separated, they 

86 



ROME'S RUINS 

both rest beneath unpretentious head-stones. Keats 
died a young and discouraged man. He never knew 
what immortality his touching poems would some day 
bring to his memory. As he tossed with fever on his 
dying bed, so far away from home, the victim of ad- 
verse circumstances and the machinations of enemies, 
knowing his end was near, he asked that this epitaph be 
placed over his grave: 

"Here rests the body of one whose name is written in the 
water." 

Is it joy or sorrow to look upon such works of art 
as the statue of the "Dying Gaul?" This statue 
represents a gladiator in the arena. Having received 
a death wound in the breast, he sits or reclines upon 
the ground, resting on his right arm and hand as the 
life blood ebbs from the wound. Notwithstanding this 
statue is of pure white marble, cold as death and as 
silent as the tomb, it speaks to you in more telling 
words than you would think could emanate from stone. 
Every lineament of the body, the attitude, all indicate 
an early dissolution, and the expression of the face is 
as truly horrible and impressive as could be possible 
in a human being. Byron tells of this statue in one of 
his more forcible poems. "As the Gaul hears the 
shouts of his adversary who has murdered him to 
make a Roman holiday, he thinks not of revenge, but 
of his wife and little children whom he'll never see 
again. ' ' 

There are many such works of art that appeal just 
so to your feeling and touch your heart in its tenderest 
spot. Mayhap as you turn from them you will feel a 
peculiar fullness of the throat and a tear stealing from 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the eye. Have you, then, in looking at them, enjoyed 
a pleasure or suffered a pain? I confess, I cannot tell. 
It is pecular how statues are always being un- 
earthed in Eome. There may be thousands still to be 
found. When the enemies of Rome came to pillage, 
destroy and sack the city time after time, the residents 
who owned valuable articles of any kind did everything 
to conceal them. Some statues were buried; others 
were hidden here and there, and some were even 
thrown into wells to be recovered some other time. But 
before Rome's troubles were over, the owners of these 
art works were sometimes as dead as the statues them- 
selves. And so it has been that statues, that are 
about the only things that have stood the ravages of 
2,000 years, are still being unearthed. The fine statue 
for which the government recently gave $90,000 was 
washed out of the ground where one of Nero's gardens 
used to be, and in digging the great tunnel recently 
under the king's palace to build a street car track in 
Rome, several statues were found, one of them very 
fine, which had been secreted in a well. Many others 
may yet be unearthed that will still add to Rome's 
wonderful collection which already beats the world. 

THE GREATEST AND GRANDEST RUIN 

After all the ruins were gone over in Rome, we 
came back and took another look at the Coliseum, 
which I believe justly ranks as the greatest and grand- 
est ruin in the world. No one can approach this mam- 
moth relic of a cruel and blood-thirsty age with a 
knowledge of its cruelties and tragedies, its combats 
and martyrdoms, without being impressed with a pe- 
culiar feeling which it would be hard to describe. You 

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THE GRANDEST RUIN 

have seen pictures of the Coliseum ever since you were 
a child ; you have read of the gladiatorial combats that 
have taken place in the arena. You have shed tears 
as you have had recounted to you the martyrdom of 
the early Christians who were torn to pieces by the wild 
beasts which were let loose upon them by the Roman 
authorities for the amusement of the populace; of 
performances given by the light of torches made 
of live human beings whose bodies were wrapped and 
saturated in oil ; you have read of its solid walls, its 
prodigious size, its age of nearly two thousand years. 
All these facts are familiar to every person, young and 
old. Then as you come face to face with the mighty 
structure, and see it as you have seen it in pictures, 
see it in fact as you have painted it in fancy, and 
realize that you are looking with your own eyes at the 
very stone of which it is made, you can hardly keep 
from being appalled at what is before you. The 
building was elliptical in form, being 510 feet wide 
and 615 feet long, the circumference measuring 1719 
feet, or practically a third of a mile. The height is 
157 feet. Allowing 11 feet to each story, it would be 
about as high as a fourteen-story house, while the 
structure, as built, is divided into four stories. There 
were four tiers of seats in the shape of an amphitheater. 
It was completed in the year A. D. 80, and if it had not 
been molested it would probably be in good condition 
to-day. It would accommodate 40,000 to 50,000 spec- 
tators, leaving a large unoccupied arena in the center. 
In the basement were dens for wild beasts, rooms for 
the gladiators and dungeons for the Christians. These 
latter were sacrificed by having Avild beasts turned 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

loose upon them. Sometimes forests were constructed 
in the arena and hunters were let loose upon animals 
as well as the animals being let loose upon the hunters. 
Another idea that was described in the story of "Quo 
Vadis" was to sew human beings up in the skins of 
various animals, and then let other animals loose upon 
them. In fact, every species of cruelty that could be 
devised by man or suggested by the devil was indulged 
in, for nothing but the bloodiest tragedies would appeal 
to the Romans. There were a hundred days of bloody 
feast when the Coliseum opened, marked by the deaths 
of many gladiators, and over 5,000 animals. And so 
was this bloody arena inaugurated. There is only 
about four-fifths of the original structure now standing 
full height. Earthquakes did it considerable damage, 
and, as Rome declined, it appeared to have become pub- 
lic property and was used as a stone quarry by several 
persons who dug the stone out as they would from a 
natural ledge to build other houses and castles. One 
of the largest palaces now standing in Rome was built 
of stone from the Coliseum. It is likely that the ma- 
terial would all have been removed had it not been for 
Pope Benedict XIV, who in 1750 stopped the further 
desecration and dedicated the edifice as a sacred en- 
closure on account of the blood of the martyrs shed 
therein. Thick buttresses were built to prevent the un- 
supported stone work from crumbling, and the re- 
mainder stands as it has for the many years since that 
time. 

It was a great work to have built this coliseum, for 
every arch is well formed and the carving was well 
done. 

90 



THE GRANDEST RUIN 

We visited the Coliseum on a bright Sunday morn- 
ing. Aside from a few guides that show people around, 
some beggars, some peddlers, and a few other travelers, 
the place was deserted. We went through its mighty 
arches. We examined the dungeons and the dens and 
listened to the story of the former wonders, beauties 
and tragedies of this place. In its present dead silence 
it was hard to imagine the excitement and noise that 
prevailed here nearly two thousand years ago when 
Eome's great but inhuman statesmen, Eome's beautiful 
but wicked women, Eome's Vestal Virgins, the personifi- 
cation of virtue, with absence of heart, Eome's patri- 
cians and plebeians, all assembled to see the murderous 
gladiatorial fights, and shouted themselves hoarse with 
delight as they saw men hack other men to pieces with 
double edged swords, or saw wild beasts tear human 
beings into shreds, when Eoman citizens feasted them- 
selves on scenes of blood, the like of which we trust the 
world will never see again. Then we retraced our steps 
and went once more through the streets of Eome. Those 
same streets that had resounded to the tread of the 
emperor's soldiers, who had conquered the world; those 
same streets that had been trodden by the feet of the 
captives brought to Eome; those same streets that had 
afterward echoed and re-echoed the wail of dying Eo- 
mans and the crash and clash of Eome's devastation 
and destruction, all mingled with the wild yells of the 
Goths, the Vandals, and the barbarians, as they pro- 
ceeded with their mad work of eliminating Eome's old 
glory ; those same streets that were afterwards the scene 
of so many murders, wars, battles and insurrections, 
but which are now used for peaceful avocations and 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

clatter with a new era of commerce. As we looked 
around us and saw the merry faces, heard the musical 
voices and recognized the evidences of happiness and 
prosperity, it seemed to us that Rome was Rome itself 
once more. 

Conditions are not yet perfect in Italy, and it may 
be a long time before they are. 

But I believe that the rights of the people of 
Rome are safer to-day than ever in its history, for there 
is more religious and political freedom. And while 
there is not so much splendor, there are not so many 
miseries, and while there is not so much wealth, there is 
more conscience, heart and loyalty. The upbuilding of 
Rome sems to be assured. The history of Rome shows 
it is not wealth, splendor nor wars of conquest that 
make a nation great, but a loyal, contented and united 
people. Old Rome conquered the world but could not 
govern itself. New Rome has no conquests but does 
govern her people, and demonstrates to all the world 
that "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than 
war. ' ' 



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Chapter VII 



FLORENCE 

Florence is a place of about 200,000 population. 
Its foundations were laid before the inauguration of the 
Christian era. It has been the center of the art world 
for several centuries and to-day is a beautiful city. It 
is also of considerable commercial importance. 

The river Arno flows through the city by graceful 
curves between stone walls, being retained by two or 
more dams over which the water falls, giving it the ap- 
pearance of an artificial lake with cascades as outlets. It 
was the seat of government for Italy previous to 1871, 
when the capital was removed to Eome. The royal pal- 
ace is still maintained at Florence, and its roofs cover 
some of the world's richest treasures of art. There are 
paintings, sculptures, ceramics, precious stones and 
carvings, the like of which are hardly to be found in 
any place in the world outside of Florence. The whole 
city is surrounded by an atmosphere saturated, if I may 
use the term, with the spirit of art, history and romance 
and it enjoys a proud and unique position among, not 
the largest, but the greatest cities of the world. 

After the downfall of Rome, the entire civilization 
of the world went into a hopeless state of bankruptcy, 
without apparently enough in the whole estate to pay 
for a receivership. The time following was called the 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

dark ages, and it was the darkest and most discourag- 
ing time that the people of this world have ever expe- 
rienced. Then there came a sort of restoration of order. 
It was at this time that Florence came to the front and 
did more than any other place on earth to bring about 
a new era in the history of mankind. Among her citi- 
zens there were architects, painters, sculptors, poets, 
statesmen, scholars, orators, teachers, philosophers and 
other eminent men in all walks who have had no su- 
periors since their time. There were more of these 
characters in and about Florence than in any other 
place in the world. About this time Florence came un- 
der the rule of the great de Medici family who were 
devoted to art, and other leaders who did much to ad- 
vance the affairs of the world and start civilization on 
a higher plane than it had occupied even before its 
downfall. 

The buildings erected in Florence at that time, some 
of which are standing at present after centuries, look 
almost as well to-day as upon their completion and 
seem fair to bid defiance to the ravages of time for 
many years to come. 

The Vecchio palace, for instance, with a unique 
tower over 300 feet high, was commenced about the 
year 1298 and completed about 200 years later. The 
matter of 700 years has not had any appreciable effect 
upon it except that the stone floors are somewhat worn 
by the several million feet that have tracked over them. 
It is now used as a town hall. 

This building contains a number of sculptures, 
paintings, and works of art, frescoes, etc. 

94 



THE OLD MASTERS 

THE WORK OF THE OLD MASTERS 

Adjoining this palace is the Loggia Del Lanzia and 
the Uffizi gallery. They are so closely allied and con- 
nected by corridors and colonnades that they seem like 
one structure. They contain so much that is worthy 
of notice that a letter even mentioning each thing briefly 
would be long and monotonous. 

In the Loggia, which is an open vaulted building, 
the roof being supported by many columns, are a large 
number of statues, several of which are known to ail 
students of art, and are of inestimable value. Among 
them is the ''Rape of the Sabines," a group in marble 
by the great sculptor, Giovanni Da Bologna, which has 
stood here over five hundred years. 

It is a valuable group. What it is worth, I cannot 
say. Who can measure its price ? One American capital- 
ist might think it was cheap at one hundred thousand 
dollars. Another might be willing to give double that 
for it. But here they do not measure the value of such 
objects in dollars and cents. They do not guess at their 
money value. The only questions they ask are, "By 
whom were they created and how long have they stood 
the test of time?" These, after all, are the true test 
of the value of such works. I think these people have 
the right idea in measuring them that way. 

There are other pieces equally as good, perhaps, for 
they were made by the greatest of artists and have 
stood the test of time for centuries, and their glory has 
not diminished in the least. 

The Uffizi gallery contains a remarkable collection 
of both paintings and sculpture. It is counted one of 
the most valuable collections in the world. The works 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

of such artists as Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van 
Dyck, da Vinci, Titian, Correggio, Perugino, Bartolo- 
meo, Holbein, Giovanni, Durer, are so numerous that in 
spite of your best intention and of your appreciation of 
art, though it may be acute, you begin to pass them by 
as mere incidents and as quite commonplace, giving 
them no more attention than you bestow on miscella- 
neous articles displayed at a county fair. 

I guess, though, it may be just as well, as it would 
take a long time to do justice to each picture, and if 
you gave them more than a passing glance, you would 
be liable to have even then only an indiscriminate ad- 
mixture of angel wings, demon faces and expressions of 
agony and pleasure muddled in your memory that 
would be difficult to divide or properly classify. How- 
ever, this is a wonderful collection, and is worthy of 
more attention than an ordinary traveler can give to it 
even if he takes a long time. 

Before leaving this I must mention a few of the 
works known to those throughout the entire world who 
devote any considerable attention to art. They are 
"The Adoration of the Child," by Hugo Der Goes, 
"The Birth of Venice," by Botticelli, "Flora," by Ti- 
tian, statue of "Bacchus Satyr," restored by Michael 
Angelo, ' ' Coronation of the Virgin, ' ' by Fra Angelico — 
but why try to name them ? There are scores celebrated 
the world over, and copied everywhere, but the originals 
are all here. 

FEEDING THE PIGEONS 

As you step from this great palace of art, you come 
into a sort of court surrounded by colonnades, with a 
stone paved street running through it in which there 

96 




THE FORUM OF ROME. 

"Only a few columns are standing to tell of its beauty and greatness. 
Page 85. 



FEEDING THE PIGEONS 

is a most surprising number of pigeons. They are tame 
pigeons of all the usual colors and they surprise the 
visitors by their familiarity. Tame pigeons in Italian 
cities are not hounded to the death as they are with 
us in America. But on the contrary, they are great pets 
with everybody, and in all the plazas in Florence and 
Venice, feeding the pigeons is a matter of considerable 
interest to tourists. On some corner an old man or an 
old woman will sell shelled corn in little packages at 
one cent each, and people buy these packages and feed 
the pigeons from their hands. You can be surrounded 
at any time by a large flock, and it is amusing to see 
them crowd and even fight for advantageous places 
during the feeding. Sometimes cabmen waiting for 
business will have a row of pigeons resting on the 
dashboard of their carriages, which they feed grain by 
grain of the corn the horses have left in their eating 
bags, at the same time carrying on a pleasant conversa- 
tion with the birds. 

It is a good idea. I think the example could be fol- 
lowed in American cities. 

It is peculiar how birds and dumb animals soon 
place confidence in mankind when they are tenderly 
treated. The deer, the elk, and even the bears in Yel- 
lowstone Park in our country are almost as tame as 
domesticated animals on some farms. There are also 
lots of tame deer in Phoenix Park, Dublin. In Hyde 
Park, London, right in the center of the largest city in 
the world, there is a lake where people row boats and 
bathe. Of course there is no hunting and shooting 
there. The wild ducks seem to understand this and 
it is not an infrequent sight to see wild ducks alight 

97 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

and enjoy themselves unmolested in the waters of this 
little lake. What a pity we cannot all be more friendly 
than we usually are with God's beautiful creatures. 

MORE WORKS OF ART 

But to return from feathers to art, there is another 
great edifice in Florence called the Pitti palace. It was 
built, or its construction was commenced, by Lucca 
Pitti, a powerful opponent of the Medici family. The 
first work was done previous to 1549 and it was added 
to at various times for two hundred years. It is now 
the palace of the king and is a most wonderful build- 
ing. It is nearly 700 feet in length and is a veritable 
storehouse of sculpture, painting and valuable relics. 
Its picture gallery is one of the finest on the face of the 
globe, while its museum contains articles of wonder- 
ful value. 

The greatest pictures in this gallery are "The 
Concert" by Giorgione, Raphael's "Madonna," 
Rubens' "Hay Harvest," etc. There are also some 
beautiful pieces of statuary. Perhaps the most in- 
teresting collection in this building are the valuable 
relics of state. Among them are presents that have 
been made to the rulers of Florence and Italy for sev- 
eral hundred years or more, including crowns, sceptres, 
jewels, swords, armor, glass, china, etc. I never saw 
more beautiful specimens of the arts in any shape than 
are kept for display in this building, which, after more 
than half a thousand years of time, stands as surely 
and squarely upon its foundation as though it were 
a modern building. There are crowns of gold that 
have been worn by kings who ruled a good part of the 
world, but are now numbered among the long ago dead. 

98 . : 



MORE WORKS OF ART 

It would take a whole volume to describe the won- 
ders contained in this building, so I will not attempt 
it here. I must, though, say a word or two about the 
great tapestries and mosaics. 

Most of the walls of this building are covered with 
silk patterns woven expressly for the places they cover, 
while in addition many of the walls are embellished 
with pictures in tapestry. It takes a good many stitch- 
es to complete a tapestry picture 20x40 feet, and a long 
while to accomplish it when it is all done by hand, as 
these pictures are made. I afterwards saw one of these 
pictures incomplete, which gave me an opportunity to 
see how the work is done. First a complete picture is 
painted on canvas, which serves as the body of the 
work. It is painted in colors, the same as any large 
painting. I think water colors are used. Then the 
tapestry is made with the necessary colors of thread, 
which are filled in just as sofa pillows and other work 
of that kind is done in our country. The process is 
very simple. It is only a question of time and talent. 

As I have now described and told how it is done, 
any of my readers are at liberty to make a tapestry 
picture forty feet long, just like those of Florence. 

THE ROYAL COLLECTIONS 

It is surprising how many beautiful things are 
gathered into a royal palace when centuries are added 
to centuries. Presents come from all the world to kings 
and emperors, and they are added to the collection until 
these royal palaces are so filled with costly and valuable 
relics that the people like us who never enjoyed other 
than the simple life, can only stand and gaze in open 

LOFC. 99 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

mouthed astonishment at what is exposed to view as we 
pass through these great palaces. 

There are solid gold candlesticks, solid gold cruci- 
fixes, ornaments of all kinds embellished with gold and 
precious stones, until one wearies with the sight of such 
grandeur. 

Florence is renowned for its mosaic work, which 
is the finest the world produces. Florentine mosaic is 
largely used in the production of tables and furniture. 
There are cabinets and tables in the Pitti palace, hun- 
dreds of years old (that are just like new), that would 
excite the envy of anyone. They are the finest speci- 
mens the world has ever known. They are of all colors 
of stones, and are polished as smooth as glass. It seems 
as if it would be impossible to reproduce them in these 
times. 

THE PONTE VECCHIO 

One of the curiosities of Florence is the "Ponte 
Vecchio, " meaning the Vecchio bridge. It crosses the 
Arno and is of considerable length. The roadway of the 
bridge is flanked with goldsmiths' shops and jewelry 
stores. These stores are full of choice goods and have 
occupied their present stands under different owner- 
ships for centuries. As every shopkeeper has evidently 
been his own architect and frequently his own builder, 
the result is the oddest lot of adjuncts that have ever 
been attached to any bridge in the world, and as pecul- 
iar a lot of little stores as could well be imagined. 

THE VARIEGATED CATHEDRAL 

I almost forgot to mention the biggest thing in 
Florence and that is the Cathedral and its Campanile. 

100 



VARIEGATED CATHEDRAL 

The Cathedral is one of the most ornamental 
churches ever erected. It was built nearly five hundred 
years ago, of white and colored marble, and presents a 
wonderfully striking appearance, and is remarkably 
beautiful. It has many works of art within it, and its 
dome stands forth in bold and graceful form, and is 
considered one of the best pieces of architecture now in 
existence. The Campanile is the bell tower of the 
church. It is separate from the main building. It is 
292 feet high, requiring 414 steps to reach its top. It is 
also of colored and white marble, and is as beautiful to- 
day as it was five hundred years ago, when it was first 
built. It is richly ornamented with statues and bas- 
reliefs. Among them are a series showing the develop- 
ment of mankind from the creation of Adam to the 
climax of science. In Italy it is a popular saying when 
trying to describe anything particularly beautiful, to 
say that it is as beautiful as the Campanile at Florence, 
which places it beyond any further comparison. 

Florence was the home and is the resting place of 
Alexander Salvini, who was a favorite actor in both 
Europe and America. I met him once in my home town 
when he played there. I tried to induce him to attend 
a reception, but he said he would not; he looked tired. 
He said he was tired — ' ' Oh, so weary, ' ' and a short time 
thereafter he went home to Florence to rest forever. 

It is also the resting place of Elizabeth Brown- 
ing, the English poetess and wife of Eobert Browning, 
the well-known poet, whose body lies in Westminster 
Abbey in London. We went to the little cemetery 
where her body rests, so far away from her old home. 
It is beneath a marble sarcophagus that bears only the 

101 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

initials "E. B." The tomb is sublime in its simplicity 
and it is a shrine to which many English and Ameri 
cans find their way in this far-off, wonderful and fasci- 
nating Italian city, and pay their respects to the 
memory of this gifted and loveable lady. Mrs. Samuel 
L. Clemens, the loved and lovely wife of the great Amer- 
ican author, died here recently, but her body was 
brought to America and buried at her old home. 

SAVONAROLA 

There are many monuments in Florence, among 
them an impressive one erected to the memory of Giro- 
lamo Savonarola, and few monuments have been erected 
to more worthy men. Medallions of him are sold on the 
street at the present time, although he has been dead 
over five hundred years. 

He was a man of strong convictions, of honest pur- 
poses, and believed in the right at all times, and from 
a monk became a wonderfully successful preacher to 
the masses. He was unrelenting in his attacks, and re- 
buked publicly the highest as well as the lowest wrong- 
doers and aroused a deadly hostility against himself by 
attacking the rulers who were in power at that time. 
He opposed vigorously the great Lorenzo de Magnifico, 
one of the most powerful rulers in the world, but that 
prince turned to him for consolation in his last hours. 
He was a heroic reformer and fought tyranny and vice 
in the church, in the state and wherever he found it. 
He denounced the corruption of government and even 
of the pope himself, and threatened that the "vengeance 
of God would find them out if they did not repent." 
He would not be silenced either by threats or briberies 
and declined to be a cardinal on condition that he would 

102 



SAVONAROLA 

cease to oppose the rulers of the church. He disobeyed 
the mandates of Rome and was excommunicated there- 
for. But he still kept up the fight against corruption 
in and out of the church, was finally thrown into a dun- 
geon, and brutally tortured, but refused to admit any 
guilt, for he was pure in heart and earnest in his con- 
victions. He was finally tried, sentenced to death, and, 
with two of his fellow monks, was publicly hanged. His 
body was then burned in the Piazza della Signora, and 
his ashes thrown into the River Arno, that flows so 
calmly through the city of Florence to-day. 

After many years the judgment of history ac- 
quitted Savonarola of the charges brought against him 
in his own day, and the sincerity of his faith and the 
disinteredness of his aims have been proven as unques- 
tioned as the purity of his life. Later popes exonerated 
the memory and the work of Savonarola and Popes 
Paul V and Benedict XIV. declared that his works were 
irreproachable and they venerated him among the ser- 
vants of God. 

He was said to be of middle stature, of dark com- 
plexion, plain in feature, pallid and worn with absti- 
nence, his expression severely noble but benevolent, and 
when animated, his keen, dark eyes glowed like flames. 
He was a most wonderful man, and left his impress on 
the world. 

It makes no difference how long one stays in Flor- 
ence, he will be loth to leave, for it is fascinating to a 
wonderful degree. Its streets are granite. They are all 
crooked and many of them narrow, so very narrow that 
the houses are sometimes bigger above than they are 
below in order to let the traffic pass in the street. The 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

houses are of a class of architecture not known in our 
country. The city is circled with great walls of the 
medieval period and the walls are overgrown with moss 
and creeping ivy that suggest the days when knighthood 
was in flower. Many of the houses are palaces and the 
parks and plazas are dreams of beauty. Even its hotels 
are of marble and enclose fountains and palms that 
make them seem more like fairy palaces than like profit- 
making institutions for the landlord. 



104 



Chapter VIII 



VENICE 

"O Venice! "Venice! When thy marble walls 

Are level with the waters, there shall be 
A cry of nations o'er thy sunken halls, 
A loud lament along the sweeping sea." 

Venice is one of the most romantic, one of the most 
peculiar, and one of the most beautiful cities in the 
world. In fact, I think it nearly reaches the climax in 
each of these three characteristics. It is different from 
any and all other cities. It has canals in place of 
streets; gondolas are used in place of carriages; steam 
launches are used for the service usually rendered by 
street cars, and bridges take the place of street cross- 
ings. Many of its houses are real palaces; its works 
of art are above the average ; its history is replete with 
interest; it has grand churches and its industries are 
varied and profitable. It has been the theme of 
romance and the subject of poetry for long, long years. 
It is the real or fancied home of Shakespeare's great 
character of Shylock, the home of Desdemona, and the 
scene of innumerable tragedies, -real and imaginary. 

Its hand-made laces have an enviable reputation 
throughout the world. Its mosaics, of which it can 
truthfully boast, are beautiful, and its ornate glassware 
and fragile glass pieces are the most beautiful that have 
ever been placed upon the markets of the world. With 
all these attractions, it is not to be wondered at that 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

every European traveler counts upon a visit to Venice 
as one of the greatest opportunities of a trip in this 
interesting part of the world. 

Sometime, along about the year 600, when the 
barbarians had overrun and taken possession of about 
everything and every place known to man, when Rome, 
which, in its former days, had ' ' sat upon its seven hills 
and from its throne of beauty ruled the world," was 
practically a "has been" and civilization was driven 
to its utmost effort to maintain a foot-hold upon the 
earth, then terror was enthroned where once had been 
the seat of learning and art. There was neither securi- 
ty for person nor property. There wasn't much room 
left for anyone but vandals, thieves and plunderers 
who roamed backward and forward over the face of 
the earth. At this time, the inhabitants of the coast- 
wise towns were driven further and further off of 
solid earth into the lagoons and nooks along the Adri- 
atic sea. They finally sought refuge in the islands and 
marshes that were even with or a little above the water. 
They got a foothold where they could, built their homes 
on such pieces of ground or on such foundations as they 
might invent and eked out an uncertain existence by 
such means as they could attain. 

One of these lodging places some two and one-half 
miles removed from the western shores of the Adriatic 
sea, which apparently had neither bottom nor founda- 
tion, became the rendezvous of quite a number of peo- 
ple and was called Riovalto. It was one of several such 
settlements, and they were all at the mercy of the 
waters surrounding them, the pirates with whom these 
waters were infested, the brigands and robbers on the 

106 



VENICE 

shores and all the elements and other peoples of 
the earth who might wish to plunder or murder them 
or carry them off into slavery. So in self-protection, 
they concluded to get together, and during the year 
697, they all met and formed a naval confederation. 

I believe history does not locate the capital of this 
confederation until about a hundred years after its 
formation, when it was established at Riovalto, which, 
for some reason, was changed to Venice. And such was 
the early history of this city, which became in the 
course of time one of the greatest cities of the universe, 
and, like Rome of former days, it became the center of 
a considerable part of the world, and ruled a large 
portion thereof. It sent forth its armies and navies 
and subdued all of its rivals and took upon itself the 
government of an extensive empire, which was carried 
on, however, as a republic, having some forms of elec- 
tions. 

In later years, through reverses, in war and loss 
of trade, it lost much of its former prestige. But it 
would take a long chapter to tell of all its conflicts, 
all its victories, all its defeats, and its final overthrow, 
and it is not my purpose to write history, except what 
is necessary to show how the city came to be built as 
it was. 

Suffice it to say, therefore, that after many years 
and many wars, it was finally captured by the French 
and ceded by them to Austria, who, in turn, assigned 
it to Italy. Then the Austrians again made war upon 
it and recaptured it. In 1848, "Venice once more de- 
clared itself a republic and waged a war for independ- 
ence and a very good fight it made. Twenty years 

107 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

later, however, it was united with Italy, and the prov- 
ince is now part of Italy, and Venice is an Italian city. 
It was ruled in the former days by a line of dukes 
called Doges, who were elected to the office. They 
occupied the Doges' palace, which is now used as a 
public building for the city, and as an art gallery and 
a museum. 

Other cities have left Venice far behind in the 
matter of population. Other cities have made more 
progress in the matter of trade and commerce, but 
Venice is still a considerable place, and its peculiar con- 
struction,, which is entirely different from any other 
city in the world, gives it a fascination and charm that 
few other cities possess. 

The population at the present time is about 150,- 
000. It has 150 small canals that divide the city into 
117 small islands. That is to say, there are that many 
irregular blocks in the city, being divided from each 
other by canals just as city blocks in other cities are 
divided from each other by streets. The blocks, how- 
ever, are connected with each other by nearly 400 
bridges, so that in passing from one part of the city to 
another, it is not necessary at all times to take a gon- 
dola or any other kind of boat. 

Each one of these bridges is more or less a work of 
art. Usually they are constructed of stone, forming 
an arch over the canal high enough to let the floating 
craft pass beneath, while the foot passengers going 
over the bridge are compelled to ascend several steps 
at one side and descend a similar number of steps at 
the other side of the canal. Some of the more modern 
of these bridges are built of iron. 

108 



THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS 

THE OLD RIALTO 

The greatest of all these bridges, and, besides, a 
very beautiful piece of work, is the "Rialto," which 
spans the Grand Canal and is the main connection be- 
tween the two principal parts of the city. While it 
was built four hundred years ago, it is apparently in 
perfect condition to-day and seems likely to remain so 
for a long time yet to come. It is constructed of mar- 
ble; its foundations rest on 240 piles driven into the 
ground. It has a single arch of 74 feet and is 32 feet 
high in the clear. A peculiarity of this bridge is that 
it has two rows of stores fronting on its passage-way 
its entire length, so it is an active place for the trans- 
action of business. It has long been a place for busi- 
ness men to meet by appointment and arrange or settle 
their matters. Shakespeare makes it the meeting place 
of Shylock and Antonio, where they arranged the loan 
and fixed up the terms of the bond, which is so promi- 
nently brought out in Shakespeare's play, "The Mer- 
chant of Venice." This makes the Rialto a matter of 
considerable interest to all visitors to Venice, but aside 
from this, it is truly a remarkable piece of engineering 
or architecture and is one of the most beautiful bridges 
I have ever seen. 

THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS 

Another bridge in Venice has perhaps achieved a 
wider reputation and is more frequently alluded to 
than the Rialto. I presume it has been portrayed in 
more pictures than any other bridge in the world. It 
is the well-known "Bridge of Sighs." It is not a very 
large span. It connects the Doges' palace over a little 

109 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

canal with, the prison in the rear of the palace. This 
bridge was built in the 16th century, and over it many 
a poor mortal after a so-called trial in the Doges' 
palace went to meet his death or to be cast into a dun- 
geon where his confinement was perhaps more horrible 
than death itself. 

This bridge leads to the old prison where Lord 
Byron underwent a voluntary confinement in a dun- 
geon for forty-eight hours to get the proper inspiration 
to write his wonderful poem, "The Prisoner of Chil- 
lon. ' ' This dungeon is a dark, uncanny place. I went 
into the same cell where Byron and other prisoners, 
real prisoners, in fact, and not in fancy as Byron was, 
had lain upon a stone cot. I got all the inspiration I 
wished for in about forty-eight seconds. I did not care 
to stay forty-eight hours as Byron did. Byron, as I 
understand it, was locked in the cell during the time 
he remained there. I was not locked in the cell and 
had no ambition to be locked in. I had so little desire 
to be locked in that I was careful to see that the man 
who showed me through the premises did not get be- 
tween me and the great door of the dungeon. 

A FEW NARROW STREETS 

Venice has a few streets as well as canals, that is 
if you can call such openings streets. They are pas- 
sages between buildings and are only used for foot 
passengers, as there are no horses or other beasts of 
burden in this city. I met one of the citizens of Venice 
who said he had never seen a horse other than the 
bronze horses on the church of St. Mark, until he was 
almost a grown man. 

110 



FEW NAEROW STREETS 

Some of these streets are only four or five feet 
wide. There is one main street which is about twenty 
feet wide. There is a plaza or public square in front 
of St. Mark's church nearly three hundred feet wide 
and six hundred feet long. These openings are all 
nicely paved, usually with cement or asphalt, and the 
grand plaza in front of St. Mark's is the center for all 
public events in the city. Band concerts are given by 
a magnificent band about three evenings a week on this 
square, at which time there are set hundreds of little 
cafe tables and chairs where the people assemble and 
drink coffee and wine and listen to the music. 

This plaza or square is surrounded by the best 
stores in the city, and several public buildings front 
thereon, besides the Doges' palace and St. Mark's 
church. At one corner is a large clock tower on which 
the time of the day is denoted in ordinary figures of 
large size that change every minute. Above on the 
platform is a large bell between two giants made of 
bronze who strike the hours on a bell with sledge 
hammers. This tower was erected about four hundred 
years ago. On the corner opposite this tower, they are 
rebuilding the Campanile, the same as the one which 
stood on the same place, but which collapsed and fell 
about five years ago. 

THE CAMPANILE 

The Campanile is a bell tower which was first 
erected in the year 888 A. D. It was then rebuilt about 
the year 1329, and stood until the year 1902. This is 
the large square tower that the reader will probably 
remember as being in evidence in almost every picture 
of Venice that he has seen. In the year 1902 this tower 

111 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

collapsed and fell without warning. It came down 
with a noise like the mighty thunders of heaven and 
greatly alarmed the people of Venice. It is now being 
rebuilt at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars. 
The work, however, is rather slow. It has been going 
on for a matter of two or more years, and rises only 
about twenty feet above the surface. The old Cam- 
panile had a spiral roadway in place of stairs running 
from the top to the bottom, or, from the bottom to 
the top. 

NAPOLEON IN VENICE 

Napoleon I., when he captured Venice in his wars 
in the early part of the last century, accomplished the 
feat of riding his horse up this spiral foot-way to the 
top of the Campanile. I believe he is the only human 
being who ever performed the feat. I presume that 
when the new Campanile is completed it will be fitted 
with a modern elevator. In that event most any one 
could get a horse to the top of the tower more easily 
than Napoleon did. 

It is a wonder that more buildings do not fall in 
Venice. All houses are built on piles. I understand, 
however, that the piles are driven down to bed-rock 
through the sand and the loose soil on top and that 
stone and cement foundations are built on top of the 
piles. The wood being entirely below the water line, 
and not being affected by the heat and cold, by moisture 
and dry weather, is almost indestructible, and lasts for 
many ages. Most of the houses are 700 or 800 years 
old. Before work is commenced on a house a temporary 
wall is built out around the premises in the canal, and 
the water is pumped out of this enclosure before the 

112 




THE RIALTO IN VENICE. 

"Shakespeare makes it the meeting place of Shylock and Antonio where 
they fixed up the terms of the Bond." — Page 109. 



CHURCHES OF VENICE 

work is commenced. After the house is completed the 
temporary wall is removed and the house fronts on the 
canal, usually with a stairway leading down so that the 
occupants of the house can come and go in their gon- 
dolas. The tide rises and falls only some two or three 
feet each twenty-four hours, which is not a serious 
matter. 

One of the greatest attractions in the city of 
Venice is a group of four bronze horses over the doors 
of St. Mark's church. The horses are of about natural 
size and it is considered one of the best bronze groups 
in Europe. One of the early Doges of Venice got these 
horses from Rome or Constantinople, or one of the 
larger cities in that direction, probably by main force. 
I do not know how the Doge captured the horses, but, 
be that as it may, he brought them to Venice as an 
ornament for the great church. This was in the year 
1204. When Napoleon came to Venice and saw these 
great horses, his heart was set upon them and he could 
not resist the yearning that came over him to possess 
them, so he took them down and sent them to Paris, 
along with a good deal of other plunder that he had 
gathered on the way, and set them up on his triumphal 
arch. This so aggrieved and angered the people of 
Venice that, after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, the 
French government concluded to return the horses, and 
they were again brought back to Venice and placed 
over the door of St. Mark's. 

THE CHURCHES OF VENICE 

There are several fine old churches in Venice, the 
greatest of which is St. Mark's, named after the apostle 
and saint of that name. This church has more space 

113 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

covered with mosaic pictures than any other building in 
the world. I do not pose as an expert- in this matter of 
mosaics, but to me these pictures in this church do not 
seem to be of so high an order as others I have seen in 
Rome and Florence. They are remarkable, however, 
for their immense size and the great number of them, 
and that is perhaps sufficient. The treasury of St. 
Mark's church, which is rigidly guarded, and to which 
you must pay a fee to be admitted, contains articles of 
very great value. Most of them are articles of jewelry 
or ornaments that have been presented to the church or 
to the officials in charge of the church. They embrace 
a magnificent collection of precious stones and gems of 
all kinds. Their value is beyond any money estimate. 
There are also some beautiful and costly crucifixes, 
swords and religious staffs, mitres, vestments, etc. 

The other churches in Venice are not so celebrated 
as St. Mark's, and yet to me they were extremely in- 
teresting. There was one on the other side of the town 
which we went through, and which is of very great size 
and contains a number of objects of interest. One thing 
that particularly attracted my attention was one wall 
where, instead of the ordinary pilaster between the 
openings, they use figures of human beings apparently 
carrying the upper part of the walls upon their shoul- 
ders. These figures are of African slaves, and are per- 
haps fifteen feet high. Their heads bend forward and 
as a foundation for the upper walls is a representation of 
a bag of grain which these African slaves are carrying 
on their shoulders. The statues are made of a combina- 
tion of white and black marble, the white representing 
the clothing, and the black the skin of the slaves. The 

114 



GONDOLAS AND GONDOLIERS 

clothing of the slaves is ragged and torn, and the black 
knees of the poor fellows protrude through rents in the 
white cloth of their trousers, and they are in their bare 
feet. I was reminded by this that the poor negro has 
always been the bearer of the white man's burdens, and 
these silent sentinels that have stood here many years, 
weighted down with their sacks of grain, show that the 
condition of the black man was rather a hard one in the 
long ago days. 

GONDOLAS AND GONDOLIERS 

But perhaps you are tired of churches and would 
like to hear of gondolas and other things that make 
Venice different from other places. Almost everybody 
has seen pictures of gondolas, and a great many persons 
have seen them in practical operation on the lagoons at 
the Chicago and St. Louis world's fairs. I will not, 
therefore, describe them here, except to say that they are 
all black and very sombre. This came about by a law 
that was passed in the fifteenth century, at which time 
gondolas were so highly ornamented and embellished 
with such extravagance that they frequently led their 
owners into bankruptcy. A law was then passed that 
they should all be painted black and no extravagance 
should be used upon their finish. I think any other 
color that might have been chosen would have been bet- 
ter than black, for, besides looking somewhat melan- 
choly, they cannot be distinguished on the waters very 
well after dark. But I did not think I could get the 
law changed during my short stay here, so I presume 
the black will prevail until my return here some other 
time. 

The rates for gondolas are fixed by law, just as 
115 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

hack rates are fixed in any large city, and are quite 
reasonable, being one franc per honr in the daytime, and 
a trifle more at night. But the gondoliers are an un- 
conscionable lot of scamps and will rob you by over- 
charging every time they get a chance. They are hardly 
ever satisfied with what you pay them, whether it be 
much or little, and they always expect a tip besides. 
You can scarcely ever make a trip without having a 
wrangle with a gondolier at the end. Much of the pleas- 
ure of a ride is overcome by the strenuous negotiation 
you must carry on in order to obtain your rights. Nor 
is it any satisfaction to tell them what you think of them, 
as they do not understand what you say, and do not 
seem to care, either. 

THE GRAND CANAL 

The Grand Canal, which is much larger than any 
other canal in Venice, runs in about the form of the 
letter "S," and divides the city through the center into 
two nearly equal parts. All the leading hotels, as well 
as the palaces of Venice, front on the Grand Canal. 
There is no space between the buildings and the Grand 
Canal, except for little porches and steps leading down 
to the water. There are, in front of each building, poles 
standing in the water which are used as hitching posts 
to tie up the gondolas and to steady them while the 
people get in and out of them. These poles are striped 
spirally with the different colors that the several fam- 
ilies have chosen as their particular distinction. 

The stripes being painted spirally, gives these poles 
the same appearance as tonsorial totem poles in the 
United States, and one not knowing what the colors 
designated, might suppose that every house on the 

116 



DON CARLOS 

Grand Canal was a grand barber shop or a hair-dressing 
establishment. 

There is a line of small steamers on the Grand 
Canal that take the place and perform the service usu- 
ally done by street cars in other cities. They have 
landings in convenient places and the fare is two cents 
for each trip. They go frequently and run quite lively. 
"While they have been in operation several years, they 
are comparatively a new thing in Venice, and though 
quicker and cheaper than gondolas, they eliminate some 
of the poetry and romance of the city. 

In addition to these there are a number of boats 
carrying freight of all kinds — merchandise, fire-wood, 
charcoal, milk, eggs, butter and a thousand other things, 
just as freight is carried on wagons in other cities, and 
some people have small steam launches or motor boats 
for their own use as people on dry land keep automo- 
biles. 

DON CARLOS, THE PRETENDER 

Don Carlos, the pretender to the throne of Spain, 
who finds Spain too hot for him now, and who lives in 
a palace on the Grand Canal, has one of these little mo- 
tor boats. He rides on the canal as a recreation almost 
every day. One day we came by his palace just about 
the time he was to take his ride. Directly opposite the 
entrance to his residence is a little plateau of vacant 
ground from which there is a bridge which connects 
with his place. A number of people had congregated 
on this little plateau to see his majesty come forth. As 
a sort of footman on his trips, he has a small negro 
dressed in a very fanciful costume. This little fellow is 
so black that I think charcoal would look pale in com- 

117 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

parison with his countenance. His presence on the front 
porch indicated that Don Carlos was soon to follow. 
As we went down the canal with our gondolier, Don 
Carlos in his motor boat soon overtook and passed 
us. He is a robust man of something over sixty years 
of age, sat up straight, wore a full but short gray beard 
and seemed to be smoking a cigar of very fine quality. 
His desire to be king of Spain, if sitting heavily upon 
him at this time, did not show in his appearance, as he 
seemed to be at peace wth himself, the world and the 
rest of mankind. His colored footman was dangling 
a small piece of rope in the water as the boat proceeded 
and his pilot or engineer was steering his craft in a 
business-like manner. He passed within a few yards of 
us, apparently not recognizing who we were, and as we 
knew who he was and he did not know who we were, I 
felt that we had that much the advantage of him. 

On our trip down the Grand Canal, we passed the 
house where Othello wooed and won the fair Desde- 
mona. In fact Desdemona's house was next door to 
the hotel in which we stopped, which had formerly been 
the palace of one of the great families of Venice. We 
also passed the house where Mr. Browning, the poet, 
died, and the palace where the great musician, Wagner, 
received his final summons while writing his last opera. 

FAREWELL TO VENICE 

We spent three days in Venice looking at its works 
of art, feeding the pigeons that followed and coquetted 
with us on the plaza of St. Mark and which begged us 
for corn which they would eat from our hands. We 
priced beautiful sets of glassware that we never could 
and never intended to buy. We watched the busy lit- 

118 



FAREWELL TO VENICE 

tie girls make lace that is as beautiful as woven snow 
and worth its weight in gold. "We rode through the 
grand and broad canals and through the dark and 
narrow water-ways under the " Bridge of Sighs" and 
between great buildings, and idled our time away in 
aimless fancy. 

When night came on and the merry lights twinkled 
on the waters in every direction and the moon and 
the stars shone down from heaven on the city, the 
scene was more beautiful than ever. Way out on the 
Grand Canal, where the great ships lie at anchor, were 
boats filled with serenaders. These boats were orna- 
mented with colored lanterns and fancy lights and 
every night there are several of them anchored on the 
Grand Canal and they render most excellent music. 
The boats are filled with good musicians from the 
opera troupes of Italy and they sing regular operatic 
selections. People, mostly visitors in the city, gather 
around the boats of the serenaders until there is an 
island of gondolas all so closely huddled together that 
men step from one to the other as they take up collec- 
tions to pay the musicians for their efforts. 

The last night we were in Venice, and in the center 
of one of these clusters, I requested the troupe to sing 
for us "Toreador," from the opera of Carmen. They 
responded cheerfully, a good baritone taking the solo 
and all the troupe joining in the chorus. "Toreador" 
is one of my favorite airs, and it was as well rendered 
as I have ever heard it from the stage. I think it was 
duly appreciated by all present, as it met with a very 
hearty applause. 

As the last strain ceased, we were reminded by 

119 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the moon that was now hanging low near the sky line 
of the west, that it was time to retire, so we were soon 
gliding over the dark waters toward our hotel, the 
music of the several troupes, that was conveyed to us 
over the ripples made by our gondola, growing fainter 
and fainter as we neared our temporary home. There 
was something sad in contemplating the thought that 
perhaps we would never experience the pleasure of 
another night on the Grand Canal of Venice. For of 
all places there is only one Venice, with its wonderful 
canals, with its art, with its music, with its silent gon- 
dolas, its ancient palaces and its grand old houses; 
with its romances of the past; with its fancies of the 
future; with its seductive charms, and those surround- 
ings that bid you forget all the serious affairs of life 
and idle away your time in thoughtless leisure and 
profitless dreams. There is only one Venice after all, 
and that is this same old Venice of the past, this same 
old Venice of the present, the old time mistress of the 
world, different from all other cities and with a fasci- 
nation of its very own. 



120 



Chapter IX 



MILAN 

Milan is the most progressive and up-to-date city 
in Italy. It strikes yon as being entirely different 
from the other cities of this country, and as being a 
city of the present rather than of the past. It is the 
capital of that part of Italy called Lombardy, has a 
population of about 500,000 people, and appears to be 
growing quite rapidly. White it is apparently a new 
and up-to-date city, it was founded a long while ago, 
and has some old and valued associations. It is in the 
center of a fairly rich country and is in command of 
several of the old passes through the Alps and in close 
communication with the two great tunnels that pierce 
the Alps at the present time. It has always been 
prosperous. 

It was once the capital of the whole of Italy. It 
has passed through all the varying fortunes that have 
been the luck of the cities of this country. It has been 
captured and recaptured by nearly all the nations of 
the earth. At one time when nearly as large as it is 
now, in the year 1162, it was completely destroyed and 
wiped off the map and it has been bombarded and 
battered on a score or more of other occasions. It was 
here that Napoleon I. was crowned king when he made 
war on this part of the country, near the beginning of 
the last century. 

121 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

One of the greatest pieces of architecture in Milan 
at the present time is the Arch of Triumph which Na- 
poleon erected in commemoration of the fact that he 
was crowned king of Lombardy at this place. This, 
however, is the only apparent evidence at present that 
such an occasion had ever been celebrated in Milan, for 
Napoleon's reign was short, and Milan and Italy soon 
returned to themselves. 

The buildings of Milan are quite substantial and 
very ornamental. While they have no sky-scrapers 
as we have in this country, I doubt if there is a city 
of the same size anywhere where the stores and public 
buildings are more beautiful than in this city. 

Its streets, although many of them are very nar- 
row and quite crooked, are well paved and kept clean. 

I think it is the greatest manufacturing city in 
Italy. There are large automobile and car factories 
here, and it is famous for its productions of silk, 
woolen and other fabrics. Its stores are well stocked 
and well kept, and, unlike other cities, Milan is free 
from beggars and peddlers, as neither are allowed 
on the streets. 

The largest gallery building devoted to commerce 
in Europe is in Milan. 

By a gallery building, I mean one of those build- 
ings which are peculiar to Europe and such as I de- 
scribed in a measure in my letter from Naples — an 
immense glass and steel structure with glass-covered 
dome and corridors, built in the shape of a Greek 
cross. The corridors here are as wide as ordinary 
streets and are lined on both sides with two or three 
story sales rooms facing on the corridors. This one at 

122 



MILAN 

Milan is an immense structure. The main corridor has 
a length of about five hundred feet. The stores in this 
structure, though not the largest in Milan, keep very 
expensive goods, such as jewelry, silk goods, etc. The 
main entrance to this structure is through an arch that 
would do justice to any large public building, being 
ornamented with statues and rivaling the fine stone 
work of the Cathedral which it faces. 

Next to this gallery, with its many small shops, 
is a large department store such as might be expected 
in a large American city. It is five or six stories in 
height, and, in addition to passenger elevators, it has 
traveling sidewalks that run at an incline and carry 
patrons from one floor to another without any exertion 
on their part. The reader can see from this that Milan 
is up on some things besides churches and art. We 
made an observation tour of Milan, seated in fine, 
rubber-tired victorias, drawn by good horses and with 
drivers in livery, and enjoyed a very pleasant ride 
while doing so. 

There is nothing in the way of modern machinery 
that we have in this country which cannot be found 
either on sale or in use in Milan. The Singer Sewing 
Machine company does a big business here. The Na- 
tional Cash Eegister is on sale. Eastman's kodaks can 
be purchased and safety razors, etc., are shown in the 
windows. 

Nearly all the passenger elevators used in southern 
Europe are made in Milan, and it carries on a very 
large business, both in manufacturing and in the sell- 
ing of goods. 

123 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Among all these up-to-date things, it is peculiar 
in these cities to run onto relics of the by-gone ages. 

OLD TIME RELICS 

Near the center of one of the busiest streets of Mi- 
lan is a row of immense stone columns. There are 
about twenty-five in all, connected by arches or lintels 
the entire length. They stand between the double street 
car tracks and are a considerable hindrance to traffic. 
Tbey are in a rather bad state of repair, and are sup- 
ported and kept in place by iron braces connecting 
them with the adjoining buildings. However, being 
relics, they are retained, even at a considerable disad- 
vantage, and are preserved not for any good that they 
may do, but simply on account of the many years since 
their erection. They are what is left of an old pagan 
temple that stood here two hundred years before the 
commencement of the Christian era. 

There is also a church in Milan, the columns of 
which are those used in a pagan temple that stood 
where the church now stands long before Christ came 
on earth. 

There are a number of interesting things in this 
city. There is a library which contains 300,000 
volumes. Milan is also the burial place of Verdi, the 
great composer of operas, who, at his death, left a 
large amount of money for the erection of a home for 
poor singers. It is a beautiful structure and is duly 
appreciated, no doubt, by those singers who have fallen 
down in the battle of harmony. When I was told that 
this was a home for poor singers, and reflected on my 
own efforts in the direction of music, I concluded that 

124 



A GREAT CEMETERY 

I was eligible to a membership in this institution, and 
might finally land there. 

A GREAT CEMETERY 

The grandest cemetery in all of Italy, perhaps in 
all of the world, is an adjunct to the city of Milan. 
This is an old cemetery, but of late years it has taken 
on a new glory of its own. 

Several years ago it was decreed that every one 
who could not afford an expensive monument should 
get out of this cemetery and stay out, so all the bodies 
of the poor were removed and only the rich were left 
here, and only the rich are buried here now. I think 
there is a greater display of statuary and of fine monu- 
ments in this cemetery than in any other city of the 
dead in the world. There are scores of statuary groups, 
any one of which would be considered remarkable in 
almost any other burial ground. Most of them are real 
works of art, and show that the sculptors of modern 
times are not so far behind in the matter of working 
in bronze and marble, when compared with the old 
masters. Most of the monuments are in good form and 
good taste, but some are weird, some are odd, and some 
are simply grotesque. I remember one, where the hus- 
band is clasping his wife, while death, in the form of a 
skeleton, is tearing the wife from the husband's arms. 
Another represents a door standing ajar and death 
coming in through the small opening after his victim. 
One piece that struck me as more weird, perhaps, than 
any other, was a bronze work over the graves of three 
grown sons of a woman, all of whom died of consump- 
tion. The group represents the three young men, full- 
grown, covered only with winding sheets about their 

125 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

loins, with their heads lying in their mother's lap and 
the feet of the three extending in different directions. 
They are represented as being as thin and bony as 
they must have been at the time of their demise; and 
the work of the artist is so painfully well done that it 
looks as if the bones would break through the thin skin 
that covers them. 

I thought how much better it would have been to 
have taken the great sum of money that it required to 
complete this gaunt and uncanny collection of figures 
and used it to prevent the further spread of the white 
plague, commonly called consumption. I do not think 
there is the least doubt that consumption or, as the 
doctors call it, tuberculosis, is strictly a contagious or 
communicable disease; that it is a call of death passed 
along the line from one to another, and, with proper 
precaution, it could be practically eliminated within a 
few years. 

These figures collected over this grave seemed to 
me to represent an extravagant waste of the lives of 
the young men who died from this dread disease, and 
another extravagant waste of money after they were 
dead, which resulted in an altogether hideous represen- 
tation. 

A beautiful monument, close to this one just de- 
scribed, was over the resting place of a doctor who did 
much for the poor when living, and, when dying, left 
a large estate for the care of the poor children of the 
city. He was a general favorite with the children and 
loved them all. The monument, which is of pure white 
marble, represents the doctor in the center of a cluster 
of children, all of whom are offering him flowers or 

126 



A GREAT CEMETERY 

tributes of love, and near his feet is his faithful dog, 
apparently gratified by the presence of the children. 

In addition to the many fine individual or family 
tombs, there are huge mausoleums where thousands 
of bodies are entombed, the enclosures being built in 
tiers, one above the other, and the whole structure be- 
ing surmounted by domes or towers. There are a num- 
ber of such structures as these in the cities of Italy; 
the one at Florence being a magnificent structure, and 
housing innumerable bodies. 

There is also in this cemetery a large crematory 
where the bodies are reduced to ashes by fire, the 
ashes then being retained in small caskets or urns. In 
connection with these furnaces there are structures for 
the retention of these little caskets or urns, and a great 
many of them are deposited here, the name, age, etc., 
being placed on the panel when the ashes are sealed in. 
the structures. 

This establishment was presented to the city by a 
wealthy German who made his home in Milan. A pe- 
culiar coincidence in connection with this was the fact 
that when it was completed, all ready for operation, 
and turned over as a present to the city or cemetery 
association, the gentleman who paid for its construc- 
tion died quite suddenly and was the first person whose 
body was reduced to ashes in its furnaces. 

I do not mention this crematory here as being the 
only one in existence. There are a number in the 
United States. I mention it here to express my opinion 
that it is the best and most sanitary way to dispose of 
the bodies of the dead. They have very strict rules 
here, however, regarding the disposition of bodies in 

127 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

this institution. I was informed that they did not 
cremate a body unless it was provided in the will of 
the deceased. I do not know but that is a general rule 
in connection with such institutions also in the United 
States. For this reason the system does not make very 
rapid headway, as there are not many of us that have 
sufficient courage to fly in the face of custom and in- 
sist that our bodies be consigned to the flames. In fact, 
the most of us are not very anxious to be disposed of 
in any manner whatsoever. "We are all sort of like 
the man in Missouri who attended a church where the 
minister preached a sermon on heaven and hell. At 
the conclusion he asked all persons who wanted to go 
to heaven to stand up. They all stood up but one man. 
He then asked all to stand up who wanted to go to 
the other place. This man did not stand up even then. 
On being asked by the preacher why he did not express 
a desire to go to heaven or the other place, he said he 
was not in a hurry just then to go any place, that Mis- 
souri was good enough for him for a while yet, any- 
way. 

HOW ABOUT IT 

I was discussing recently with some one whether 
the statues of the old rulers of Rome, which are usually 
clothed in what is ordinarily termed Roman costume, 
represented those old Romans as they dressed in their 
day or whether they wore tailor-made suits such as we 
do now. I must confess that I never was entirely clear 
on this point. The old Roman costumes look so much 
better in marble than a well-made tailor suit, that I 
thought perhaps they adopted that style of dress in 
bronze or marble in order to make their statues appear 

128 




CATHEDRAL OF MILAN. 

Ornamented with six thousand statues. Each pinnacle supports a figure 
larger than an ordinary person. — Page 129. 



CATHEDRAL OF MILAN 

more graceful. It seemed to be the consensus of opin- 
ion that these statues represented the Roman statesmen 
just as they appeared in public. Otherwise the statues 
would not be of much value in immortalizing the per- 
sons for whom they were made. This line of argu- 
ment, however, receives a severe jolt when you come to 
Milan, for here in the very center of this practically 
modern city is the statue of so modern a ruler as the 
great Napoleon, which was made by and under his own 
direction, and cast in bronze and set up in one of the 
most public places in this city. In this statue the 
modern emperor appears as naked as Adam was before 
his eyes were opened by eating apples in the Garden of 
Eden. So I am still at a loss to know who the tailors 
of the old Eoman emperors were and how they dressed 
the old fellows up for every day life. 

Another thing about this statue of Napoleon is 
that while the emperor was rather short and not of a 
very prepossessing figure, he was extremely vain withal. 
So he directed the artist who made this statue to make 
him in bronze tall and handsome. The artist carried 
out his orders to the letter, and Napoleon stands here 
to-day, a regular Apollo Belvidere, and I am certain 
he is better shaped and of better figure than most of 
the men of Belvidere, Illinois, at the present time. 

THE CATHEDRAL OF MILAN 
I have written so much of old churches and tombs 
in connection with this series of letters that I am get- 
ting rather tired of the subject. And yet the great- 
ness of Europe is in its old churches or cathedrals and 
its tombs or monuments to the dead. It is impossible, 
therefore, to write up any of these cities without pay- 

129 

—9 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ing considerable attention to their chief glories, which 
are almost invariably their churches and their tombs. 
One cannot, therefore, say mnch of the city of Milan 
without writing something of the great Cathedral that 
is located here. 

It is of the Gothic order of architecture and is the 
greatest example of that class of work on the face of 
the globe, besides being one of the grandest houses of 
worship ever erected. 

In fact it is one of the wonders of the world. 
While it is not so large as St. Peter's at Rome, it is large 
enough to accommodate 40,000 worshippers at one time. 
It has the largest stained glass windows in the world, 
and embraces in its ornamentation over 6,000 statues, 
all of life size or larger. Its tower is 360 feet high 
and even the roof is made of marble. Five hundred 
years' time was consumed in erecting this building and 
it is still being improved and brought up to date. Its 
architecture is a combination of the ideas of Italian, 
French, German and all other masters of their pro- 
fession, and a culmination of many ideas and the re- 
sult of all kinds of differences of opinion, and even of 
severe disputes and quarrels of the builders. 

How, under these circumstances, such a beautiful 
and artistic building was finally produced is almost as 
great a wonder as the building itself. The statues with 
which it is ornamented are in every place, inside and 
out, and when the moon shines down through its many 
pinnacles, the building is like a fairy palace. The pe- 
culiarities of some of these statues, which portray vari- 
ous ideas, are quite remarkable. For instance, there is 
one of St. Bartholomew which represents the saint as 

130 



CATHEDRAL OF MILAN 

being skinned and carrying the skin over his own 
shoulders, with that part representing his limbs and 
feet on one side of his body and the other part repre- 
senting his head, arms and neck on the other side of his 
body. He is carrying the skin as a woman would wear 
a fur boa. This, I believe, is founded on the tradition 
that this saint, while being tortured by the enemies of 
his religion, was skinned alive and compelled to carry 
his own skin over his shoulders in this manner. 

There are other statues, notably that of St. Sebas- 
tian, who came to his death by being shot full of ar- 
rows, and is thus represented here. 

The ceiling of the main auditorium of the Cathe- 
dral is supported by fifty-two massive fluted columns. 
They are said to be sixteen paces in circumference, 
which, I should judge, would make them about four- 
teen feet in diameter if they were reduced to a circle. 
They are artistically carved and are of tremendous 
height. They are certainly the grandest cluster of col- 
umns that I have ever seen, and, I believe, they carry 
with them the record of the world in this respect. 

There are tombs and memorials on all sides in this 
Cathedral, but its crowning glory is in its great stained 
and leaded glass windows and its thousands of statues. 

The windows portray in their pictures all of the 
Bible stories from the first chapter of the Book of 
Genesis to the last chapter of Eevelations. The statues 
are of all the holy men of all ages and those who have 
been canonized by the church. These statues represent 
many good men and, maybe, some bad ones. The na- 
tive gentleman who showed us around the church, and 
who spoke rather broken English, intimated that al- 

131 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

most anybody could be canonized if they had money 
enough and said he would not be surprised some time 
in the future to find the saint-like form of Pierpont 
Morgan in marble in one of these niches. 

THE LAST SUPPER 

The most interesting work of art in Milan, which 
also is one of the most interesting pictures in the world, 
is the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, known as "The 
Last Supper." This is the original of the picture that 
is copied so extensively throughout the Christian world, 
and is held in such high esteem, both as a work of art 
and as a portrayal of one of the most pathetic events 
in our Savior's life. While this picture was painted 
some time previous to the year 1499, or over four hun- 
dred years ago, it seems not to have been duly appre- 
ciated until quite a recent date, as compared with its 
age. Unfortunately, it is now scaling off, and its end 
is inevitable. It is painted on the plastered wall across 
one end of a room which forms part of the old monas- 
tery of Santa Maria del Grazie. The room is about 
thirty by sixty feet, and the picture is about twenty- 
four feet the long way. The room was used as a 
dining room by the monks, and in order to get a 
shorter route to and from the kitchen, they cut a 
door through the wall in the lower part of the picture 
which greatly marred the work, and which, if it had 
been cut a little higher, would have eliminated the 
picture of the Savior, which appears directly in the 
center of this painting. This door is sometimes shown 
in copies of the picture, while other copies ignore the 
door and give the picture as it formerly appeared 
before this opening was made. 

132 



THE LAST SUPPER 

Another disaster that almost completed the de- 
struction of this magnificent work of art came about 
through the invasion of Italy by Napoleon in the early 
part of the last century. 

No matter where Napoleon went he and his forces 
"cried havoc and let loose the dogs of war." They 
had no respect for anything, either sacred or profane, 
and everything was utilized for the advancement of 
their vigorous campaigns. 

So, when Napoleon came to Milan, he took pos- 
session of this old monastary and stabled his horses in 
this particular room. In using it as a stable his horses 
did great damage to the picture and practically ampu- 
tated the lower part of the legs of all the apostles. The 
damage done was irreparable and time has now com- 
menced where these vandals left off, and before long 
only a dim outline will remain. But there are millions 
of copies of the picture in existence, so that the people 
of the earth in all time to come can cherish its memory. 
Of course any good painter could go over the picture 
again and restore it to its original colors, but it would 
then be only a copy and the original — the grand con- 
ception of the artistic mind of the great da "Vinci, 
would be no more. 

A statue was erected to Leonardo da Vinci in Mi- 
lan, but not until 1872, about three hundred and fifty 
years after his death, when his work became fully ap- 
preciated. 

It seems strange, though, that this picture should 
have finally acquired such an enviable popularity so 
long after it was painted. I do not suppose that any 
one assumes that it represents the scene of "The Last 

133 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Supper" as it actually took place. It is an imaginative 
picture. It was painted nearly 1,500 years after the 
occurrence which it portrays, and was merely a fancy 
of the artist, worked out to accord with his own ideas. 
Other artists of as great repute and, perhaps, just as 
much skill, have created and completed many pictures 
of the same subject. They have painted them on wood, 
on canvas, on walls, in fresco, in oil, and even made 
them in mosaic. Some have used round tables, some 
square tables, and others oblong tables; some have sur- 
rounded the tables on all sides, and some have placed 
all the apostles on one side as they are in this picture 
by da Vinci. Yet all of these fine pictures are prac- 
tically unknown, unheard of and all of them together 
have not been accorded one hundredth part of the dis- 
tinction and glory that has been accorded to these col- 
ors that da Vinci spread upon an ordinary wall over 
four hundred years ago, perhaps with only a thought 
of covering the barren space and never thinking that 
his efforts would be heard of outside of the city of 
Milan. 

What is there in a picture, in a poem, in a song, 
that strikes a popular chord and makes the world 
akin ? What is there in this picture or what is there in the 
simple words of "Home, Sweet Home" or "The Last 
Rose of Summer" that awakens a response in the heart 
of any one who has a thought above the love of strata- 
gem and crime? 

What is there in the few simple colors used by da 
Vinci in his "Last Supper" that touches the hearts of 
the whole Christian world ; that calls forth a holy adora- 
tion, and that makes all men better ; that brings heaven 

134 



THE LAST SUPPER 

and earth nearer together, and that gives everyone a 
truer conception of the sorrows of the Savior who gave 
His life for the redemption of the world? 



135 



Chapter X 



THE RAILROADS OF ITALY 

The railroads of Italy do not rank with those of 
the United States. Between Naples and Rome there 
are some American cars with aisles running through 
the center. They are called first-class here, but would 
be about equal to second-class cars in our country. All 
the other cars that we have found here are of the com- 
partment order, usually with doors entering from the 
sides. The doors open outward and six people occupy 
each compartment, sitting three on each side of the 
compartment, facing each other, and the seats running 
crosswise in the car. Some of the cars are of good 
length, a corridor or diminutive hallway running down 
one side the full length of the car, but most of the cars 
are cut up into short suites; first-class passengers occu- 
pying one end of the cars and second-class the other end 
while the third-class passengers are crowded into a 
full size car by themselves. If there is any advantage 
in a compartment car over the American style of car, I 
have not discovered it, while to my mind there are 
several serious disadvantages. Before the train starts 
the compartments are locked or bolted on the outside. 
Sometimes they overlook this little formality and per- 
sons leaning against the doorway may spring it open 
and then stay in if they can. As they do not check 
any baggage free in Italy, and lots of people travel 

136 



RAILROADS OF ITALY 

over the continent without trunks, everybody is over- 
loaded with so-called hand-baggage. There are valises 
and suit cases almost as big as Saratoga trunks. By 
the time six people get their wraps and baggage into 
one of these little compartments, it presents an appear- 
ance similar to a checking room at a busy hotel, and 
then the six people get into the space that is just about 
big enough for one man to do checking. While there 
are some compartments for smokers and some for those 
who do not, there is usually some fashionable "Dago" 
with his moustache turned up at the ends, who ignores 
the rules and smokes bad-smelling cigarettes. As but 
few of the trains carry dining cars, the travelers stock 
with wine and eatables and the compartment is then 
turned into a dining car, and every man is his own 
steward. Tom Moore refers beautifully to the "ban- 
quet hall deserted," but a compartment less than seven 
feet square with six people, four hundred pounds of 
baggage, a lot of luggage, overcoats, cloaks, overshoes, 
field-glasses, traveling guide books, newspapers and 
with a full-fledged meal going on with wine and cigar- 
ettes, can hardly be classed, poetically or otherwise, 
as a deserted banquet hall. There is a dining car on 
the run between Naples and Eome. It is called a 
wagon restaurant. The dinner is served in courses. 
Before dinner time a gentleman passes through the 
train and assigns seats at the first and second sitting, 
and the meal is served with considerable formality. 

The short, or ordinary coaches, have only four 
wheels, one on each corner, and as the coaches are short 
and set up high on large wheels and have stiff springs 
and do not have rubber tires, the motion is somewhat 

137 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

jerky. I have often heard of "jerk-water" trains and 
never knew what was meant by the expression, but it 
might be applied to these trains. We rode in one of 
these cars from Florence to Venice. From Venice to 
Milan the cars and roads were much better. The 
freight cars are small, have only fonr wheels each, and 
certainly wonld not carry more than one-fourth of 
what we would consider a load at home. The train- 
men do not announce the names of the stations as they 
approach them, but wait until the train stops, and then 
they run along the sides of the cars and yell out the 
names of the towns. If anybody wants to get off they 
unlock the cage and let him out. When the business at 
the station is completed, a bell that hangs to the side 
of the building is rung by the station agent. The con- 
ductor, taking his cue from this, with a little brass horn 
blows a good long note in the "Key of B-nat" and 
away the train goes. The engines do not have cow- 
catchers and do not need them, as almost all wagon 
roads go over or under the railroads, and all grade 
crossings have iron gates and watchmen, even out in the 
country. All lines that we have passed over here have 
double tracks and the trains run pretty fast, although 
they use more time at the stations than is usual in our 
country. The hardest ride we had was between Flor- 
ence and Venice, a distance by rail of about 120 miles. 
We left Florence at 14 :35 p. m. and arrived at Venice 
at 21 :45 the same night. The time is counted twenty- 
four hours in the day, commencing at midnight and 
running until midnight following, the hours being 
numbered consecutively from one to twenty-four. Dur- 
ing this time, however, we stopped forty minutes at 

138 



ITALIAN HOTELS 

Bologna, where a course dinner with an accompaniment 
of wine was served. There are probably other differ- 
ences between Italian and American railways, and they 
may have some good ideas that our railway men have 
overlooked, for American railway travel is not yet per- 
fection. 

THE ITALIAN HOTELS 

The hotels are remarkably good and there are many 
of them, and considering the elegance of their appoint- 
ments, their prices are reasonable. The meals, aside 
from breakfast, are quite sumptuous, and always served 
by high-toned gentlemen wearing claw-hammer coats, 
in dining rooms that are embellished with frescoes and 
statuary, and are frequently accompanied with orches- 
tra music. Hotel offices, corridors, etc., are always cov- 
ered with tile, and bedrooms sometimes have tile floors 
also. The hotels on the average are more artistic than 
American hotels. Prices in good hotels for double 
rooms, that is two persons in one room, average, in- 
cluding meals, about $3 per day for each person. Of 
course there are choice quarters in some hotels that 
run up to any price. For instance, at Naples some of 
the steamer people, who had ordered rooms in advance, 
found these quarters ready for them at $20 per day 
for each family of three people. That was $6.66 per 
day for each person without their meals. These, how- 
ever, were extraordinary. Ordinary travelers, if they 
go in pairs, can get along at about $3.00 per day and 
live well. Many average less than this. There are a 
good many extra charges and tips. Coffee and tea, 
etc., for breakfast, and wine are always charged for 
extra, and there is more wine ordered than either tea 

139 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

or coffee. Wine and roses are very cheap, so an Ameri- 
can can indulge freely in two luxuries that are usually 
beyond his reach at home. 

The matter of baggage is a serious one, if the 
traveler is much encumbered with trunks. All trunks 
are weighed in at each station, and sent and charged 
for as express matter, and are a source of much profit 
to the railroad and terror to the traveler. Notwith- 
standing this, it is remarkable how much baggage some 
people carry. There were nearly three carloads on the 
train in which we left Venice. Some people send their 
baggage through by express or freight. Still this is ex- 
pensive. A young couple whom we met sent a good- 
sized trunk from Milan to Paris by freight. It cost 
them $17. It is, therefore, advisable to fly light in the 
way of baggage while traveling in this country. 

It is not absolutely necessary to speak any for- 
eign language in traveling here, although it would be con- 
venient to understand French, which everybody seems 
to use as well as Italian. All hotels have someone who 
can speak English as well as several other languages, 
and most stores that expect the trade of travelers have 
English-speaking clerks. It sort of takes the conceit 
out of a fellow who thinks he is pretty well educated, 
but who can speak only one language indifferently, to 
find a hack driver who speaks three or four and porters 
in a hotel shining shoes that can speak five or six. 

There are a great many German and French trav- 
elers here, so all notices about hotels, etc., are usually 
printed in four different languages, Italian, French, 
English and German. I should imagine the ordinary 
job printer must be a wise one, or be subject to con- 

140 



ANGLO-ITALIAN 

siderable trouble in reading proof on the work he turns 
out. 

ITALIAN MONEY 

The money of Italy is based on a unit of one lira, 
which is usually called a franc. Theoretically, the 
franc is divided into one hundred parts, but the small- 
est coin used is a five centime piece, and, as the franc 
has a value of twenty cents, the five centime is equal to 
the one cent piece of the United States. The franc is 
a trifle smaller than an American quarter and is made 
of silver. The five centime is made of copper and is 
about the same size as the franc. The ten centime, or 
the equal of two cents, is made of copper nearly as 
large as the American half dollar. Five and ten 
franc pieces are what we used to call ' ' shinplasters " 
during the war, being made of paper about two by four 
inches in size. The fifty and one hundred franc bills 
are about the size of cigar box labels and look consid- 
erably like them. All prices are made on the lira or 
franc basis, and bills seem extravagantly large. A hotel 
bill, for instance, that comes to $22.50 will be made out 
so that it foots f 112. 50, and it takes your breath some- 
times before you think of it being francs. Ten dollars 
in copper would be as much as a good strong man 
would want to carry. In this country, however, your 
big coppers do not last long, as you are expected to 
hand them out on every occasion as tips and gratuities. 
In order to meet these demands, you must go loaded 
with a pocket full of financial junk at all times. 

ANGLO-ITALIAN AND THE SIGN LANGUAGE 

The inability to speak a native language in a for- 
eign country sometimes leads to considerable delay and 

141 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

frequently to ludicrous incidents. I have concluded, 
however, that a traveler, if he could tell exactly what 
he wanted, would miss a good many jokes, usually on 
himself, that break the monotony of the trip. At Rome 
we engaged a driver who wore a green neck-tie and 
spoke pretty fair English. In fact, his language was 
quite plain. When we asked him his name, he said that 
it was Stephen Kelley, and that he was born in Killar- 
ney. He was a treasure and we stuck to him. We did 
not have such good luck in Florence. It is further in- 
land and hasn't so many visitors and very few peo- 
ple there understand English. We selected, from a 
gang of cabmen, the worst looking one and asked him 
to drive us to the gallery. When we arrived there we 
found no one who could speak English in attendance, 
so we appealed to our driver to take us to where we 
could find an English speaking guide. He looked at us 
in blank bewilderment. We told him we wanted an 
English speaking guide. Then we repeated, "Guide! 
Guide ! ! Guide ! ! ! " " Guida, ala Anglaise. " " Guida 
Polevue de Franca," "Deutsche von Sproken English." 
"Show me, I'm from Missouri." "English!" 
"English!!" "English!!!" "Guida de Galleria An- 
glaise, de Americana," etc. We thought this was good 
enough Italian for anyone. After about fifteen min- 
utes of this sort of argument on our part, our driver 
concluded that we wanted something English so he 
answered, "Si, Senor, Anglishe, Anglishe, Senor, Ang- 
lishe, Si, Senor." Having thus come to a mutual un- 
derstanding with each other, the driver grabbed up the 
lines and dashed at break-neck speed about a mile down 
through the city. Knowing we were going in the 

142 



ON LAKE COMO 

wrong direction, I tried to stop him, but he would not 
have it. Finally he came up abreast of an English 
Episcopal church, where, it being Sunday, services were 
proceeding. There was a smile of satisfaction on the 
driver's face as he was sure he had found what we 
wanted. Getting out of the carriage I went into the 
church, and, calling one of the worshippers from 
prayer, I explained to him that we had been kidnaped 
and carried off by an Italian and wanted to get back 
to the gallery. The worshipper ex-translated our ideas 
and imparted them to the driver and we returned to 
the starting place and we were all right again. 

In another instance, having no napkin, I requested 
the waiter in Anglo-Italian and the sign language, to 
get me one. As I did so, I looked under the table to 
see if I had dropped it on the floor. After much 
searching, the waiter came back with a foot-stool. 

One night while stopping at a Swiss hotel, the 
weather being a little cool, we requested an extra blan- 
ket for each bed. The maid returned after due time 
with two feather beds which she kindly offered to us. 

There is one thing that you can rely upon, and that 
is whenever you ask for anything, whether they under- 
stand you or not, you are very likely to get something. 

ON LAKE COMO 

Leaving Milan one hot, bright afternoon, we took 
the cars for the town of Como on the lake of the same 
name, where we changed to a boat which runs on the lake. 
Lake Como is thirty miles long and six hundred and 
fifty feet higher than the ocean. It is one of the north- 
ern lakes of Italy and is a beautiful body of water. 
It is surrounded by high mountains, some of which, in 

143 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the month of May, while we were here, were covered 
with snow. Below the timber line they were overgrown 
with evergreens, chestnut and walnnt trees, and vari- 
ous other trees and species of vegetation. 

There are lots of villages and cities on the borders 
of the lake, and innumerable hotels and summer cot- 
tages. It is really surprising to see the evidences of 
travel and recreation on this and other lakes in this lo- 
cality. 

The town or city of Oomo is considerable of a place ; 
has a silk factory, and some other industries, but is not 
of special interest to visitors. We therefore continued 
our journey on the lake. 

After having spent several weeks among old ruins, 
old cathedrals and the works of the old masters, it was 
really refreshing to get out on the bosom of this lake 
where its smooth waters presented a beautiful contrast 
to the many specimens of architecture which we had 
looked upon, and where the green mountains with their 
snow-capped tops made larger and really more beau- 
tiful pictures than either the old or the modern artists 
could create. 

The boat on which we sailed was a fairly good-sized 
craft; at least as large as some of the smaller passenger 
boats on the northern lakes of the United States. We 
stopped at several stations or landings on the way to 
our objective point, which was the town of Menaggio, 
where we intended to spend the night. At most of the 
landings there were beautiful hotels with broad piazzas 
and vine-clad trellises which presented a very inviting 
and restful appearance. I think, though, what really 
attracted most attention from the passengers was the 

144 



MEETING OLD FRIENDS 

number of women who were doing their family washing 
in close proximity to each landing we made. 

These women would lay their wash boards, which 
were simply a flat board like the lid of an ordinary 
packing box with a place near the top to hold the soap, 
down on the shore. Then they would lay the pieces that 
were to be laundered on this board and, after soaping 
them, would scrub them with a scrubbing brush. Some 
of them, who seemed to think that this was too slow a 
process, had a wooden paddle about as large as an ordin- 
ary scrubbing brush with a handle on one end perhaps 
a foot long, with which they would pound the pieces on 
the wash boards quite vigorously, as though they had 
a spite against the dirt. 

At one of the landings, there was a woman who had 
a small boy whom she was trying to teach to do wash- 
ing. The small boy did not take kindly to the profes- 
sion, and the woman had a very strenuous time with him 
in giving him apparently his first lesson. 

MEETING OLD FRIENDS 

After embarking on the boat we met the "twins'' 
and their father. I do not think, though, that I have 
mentioned the "twins" heretofore in this series of let- 
ters, so I will say at this time that they were two young 
ladies who crossed over from New York to Naples on the 
same steamer with us, and I found out on this trip on 
this little lake what I had not discovered before, that 
many years ago their father and the writer of these 
articles were in business within half a block of each 
other in a western city, and had been acquainted at that 
time, which now seemed in the long ago. The twins were 
very handsome young ladies, very lady-like and very 

145 

—10 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

agreeable, and on the ship they received considerable 
attention from the young men who were traveling in the 
same direction. It transpired that their birthday oc- 
curred while they were in Rome, and a number of the 
young men who had made their acquaintance tendered 
them a most elegant reception and banquet at one of 
the hotels near the home of the old Caesars. 

It is hardly necessary to say that people, on such 
trips as we were enjoying, become very fast friends, 
even on limited acquaintance. "We are all strangers in 
a strange land, and a community of interests brings 
us very close together and we willingly accommodate 
ourselves to each other's movements. So, when we met 
these folks, instead of stopping at Menaggio on Lake 
Como, as we had intended, we changed our trip to the 
extent of joining with the twins and their father to 
journey on a considerable distance farther this same 
night, and stop at the town of Paradiso, near Lugano, 
on another lake separated from Lake Como by a chain 
of mountains. 

The two lakes are about ten miles apart; the line 
of communication between the two being one of the most 
peculiar and interesting little railways that it has been 
my pleasure to encounter. It is a narrow-gauge insti- 
tution using cars which are hardly as large as street 
cars of an ordinary city line, which are drawn by small 
steam locomotives. While the railway runs through a 
pass in the mountains, the elevation between the two 
lakes is considerably higher than either of them. The 
lake to which we were going was something over two 
hundred feet higher than the lake which we had left. 
After being seated in the little cars, the train started up 

146 



MEETING OLD FRIENDS 

obliquely along the side of the mountain away from the 
town where we had taken the train. After running a 
distance of perhaps an eighth of a mile, the train 
stopped, a switch was turned, and the train was hauled 
back nearly parallel with the first track except at a 
much higher grade so that in a few minutes we could 
look down upon the housetops and the chimneys of the 
town we had just left. Lake Como was spread out at 
our feet like a map laid on the floor for examination, 
and it presented a very beautiful sight. The green 
waters reflected the mountains with which they were 
surrounded, and the little towns could be seen for miles 
in every direction. The steamboats and the row-boats 
dotted the surface of the lake and it was a real picture. 
It was lightened and made beautiful by the sun, which 
was just setting in the mountains to the west, and illumi- 
nated by electric lights that were just being turned on 
in the many settlements. At this place the little rail- 
way made a curve and the train started through the 
pass in the mountains, crawling higher and higher as it 
went, until it reached within a few miles an altitude of 
several hundred feet. Then there was a station where 
the train stopped and from that place it was down grade 
to the lake we were approaching. It was sort of like 
being drawn up by main force to the highest point of a 
scenic railway and then being let loose to run down to 
the end by the attraction of gravity and of our own 
volition. 



147 



Chapter XI 



INTO SWITZERLAND 

At the end we came to the town of Porlezza and em- 
barked on a little steamer on Lake Lugano. This lake is 
eight hundred and seventy-five feet above the ocean, so 
you will see that we were gradually working up in the 
world. It is twenty miles long and is another one of 
the beauties of this section. To make the place more at- 
tractive there was an old ruined castle near the landing. 

It had now grown late in the evening, and we were 
gratified to find on the lower deck of the boat a magnifi- 
cent hot supper awaiting us. Night was coming on and 
the full moon hung over the lake, and between bites of 
good meat and good bread and sips of good liquids, we 
looked out through the steamer windows at the moun- 
tain sides passing by and the cascades which were tumb- 
ling down over the rugged rocks. There were not many 
people on the steamer, and, as evening advanced and the 
stars glinted more brightly, the scene became more fasci- 
nating. 

In place of an orchestra on the boat there was one 
little old be-whiskered man sitting in the dark, evidently 
blind, who played a violin, or perhaps it would be more 
becoming, as he was so far behind the times in every 
other thing, to say that he was playing a "fiddle." He 
played with a very light stroke; you could scarcely hear 
him ten feet away, and I thought the violin spoke a 

148 



INTO SWITZERLAND 

low and plaintive language that told of the miseries 
and sorrows of the old man who manipulated the bow. 
With this accompaniment of melody, with the moon and 
the stars to light us from above, the lamps on the 
steamer to piek out our pathway on the waters, and the 
bright lights of the hotels and little villages along the 
shores to guide us, before we knew it we had slipped un- 
consciously from the great kingdom of Italy into the 
little republic of Switzerland. In fact, we would not 
have known we had changed from one country to another 
had it not been that a very polite gentleman explained 
to us through the interpretation of our fellow traveler, 
who spoke German, that he would be pleased to place a 
small label on our baggage without examination to show 
that it had passed through the custom house of Switzer- 
land and was entitled to go wheresoever it pleased in the 
model republic of the world. 

We soon came to the town of Lugano and next to 
it our stopping place for the night, a suburb called 
Paradiso, which was the next thing to Paradise, 
as its name implies. In close proximity to Paradiso 
are two high, sharp-pointed mountains. One is called 
Mt. Salvatore, which has an elevation of 2,980 feet, with 
a cable railway running to the top. We went up this 
cable line the next day. 

It was Saturday night when we arrived at Paradiso. 
We stopped at a small hotel and were soon lost to the 
troubles of earth and the changes of travel in a very de- 
lightful sleep. When we awoke the next morning it was 
with the song of birds, and we looked with pleasure out 
over the little lake over which we had passed the night 
previous and the mountain sentinels about it. 

149 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Lugano, which, adjoins Paradiso, lies in a semi-circle 
around the end of the lake and presents a very charm- 
ing appearance from the lake as you approach the city, 
especially at night when the streets and all the hotels are 
lighted up. It must be the stopping place of a great 
many visitors and the resting place of a great many peo- 
ple who come here for recreation and pleasure, for while 
the town is accorded a population of something less than 
ten thousand, it has thirty-five hotels which are of suffi- 
cient importance to be named in the official guide as 
places for tourists to patronize. Some of them are great 
palaces and are brilliantly illuminated at night. 

The Sabbath morning opened out bright and beauti- 
ful and our breakfast was served on an enclosed porch 
adjoining a small garden full of flowers and overlook- 
ing the lake. "While we were partaking of our breakfast 
several steamboats passed in front of us and a number 
of smaller boats were moving to and fro over the water. 

From the top of Mt. Salvatore we could take in a 
large scope; could follow the outline of the larger lake 
and see a number of smaller lakes clustered among the 
mountains. Small towns, of which there were a number 
in view, were clustered upon the mountainsides in va- 
rious places, and the railway leading off in each direc- 
tion with its steel bands appeared to attach this fairy 
land in which we had rested to the balance of the world. 
At our feet the railway encircled Mt. Salvatore, and, 
after making a sweeping curve, crossed the lake on a long 
bridge, the train appearing like a miniature railway in a 
toy picture. 

A TRAVELING COMPANION 

Noon came, and our friends, with whom we had 

150 



A TRAVELING COMPANION 

spent the last day, took their leave of us and their de- 
parture from Paradiso to visit the home of their ances- 
tors somewhere in Germany, and we were again left 
alone. The little hotel at which we were stopping seemed 
somewhat lonely under these circumstances, so we con- 
cluded to take our noon-day lunch at one of the larger 
hotels down in the city of Lugano. We engaged a one- 
horse cab and took a ride down through the entire length 
of the city, which, being stretched out around the end 
of the lake, is about ten times as long as it is wide. We 
were shown several very delightful little crags and dells 
by the cab driver, who, not knowing a word of English, 
explained in sign language as he went by them. We re- 
turned to one of the great hotels which occupied a prom- 
inent location on the lake, and which had a marble en- 
trance that looked like the opening to some public build- 
ing, and which embraces, as a part of its possessions, a 
nice garden ornamented with palms, shade trees, etc. 
We were ushered into a large dining room where there 
were a lot of people already at the tables. We were 
somewhat gratified to see among the number a German- 
American friend of ours who had occupied a seat at the 
steamer table directly opposite us on our long ocean 
journey. He is connected with one of the great Ger- 
man dailies of New York city. He is a remarkably 
genial and pleasant gentleman, but, while he does not 
think so, he has a great number of eccentricities. He is 
a bachelor of several years' standing and expresses the 
determination not to change from his present condition 
in that respect. But he will. He was seated with a nice 
company of old friends whom he had known a long 
while, and who had been awaiting his arrival. He 

151 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

greeted us cordially from beyond an embankment of 
good victuals, a bouquet of roses and a large bottle of 
wine. He introduced us to bis friends, who, it appeared, 
were Americans who had been spending about one year 
in travel in this country, and we soon felt as though we 
were among home folks again. 

Our German friend had supplied himself when he 
started with a large amount of baggage and a new com- 
plex photographing outfit, so on the start of the trip he 
had about all he could look after. He was as much of 
a stranger to the art of taking pictures as most of us 
would be to the art of walking a tight rope, but he was 
quite certain that he was making a great success of 
taking almost everything in sight, and was using up 
films as though they were as cheap as blotting paper. 
While he had considerable to look after when he started, 
he had less as he went along. 

At the first convenient station he had shipped his 
largest suit case to his objective point of visit in Ger- 
many. On the first train which he took in Italy he 
changed his hat to a traveling cap and then went off the 
train at a way station, leaving his hat to continue the 
journey. At some hotel he parted company with his 
umbrella and at the next station he shipped one more of 
his satchels on to Germany. I presume by the time he 
reached his relatives in the fatherland, whither he was 
going, he was about as destitute of baggage and para- 
phernalia as the prodigal son was when he returned to 
the home of his father. But he is a genial gentleman 
and no matter where I travel the rest of my life, I 
will always be pleased to remember the pleasant times 
we had with our German friend. 

152 



MUSIC ON THE WATER 

We arranged right there to leave Lugano on the 
same train the next morning and all of his friends were 
down to assist us with our baggage, and wave us a 
fond farewell as we were carried away from this charm- 
ing place. 

MUSIC ON THE WATER 

Sunday evening before leaving Paradiso, we con- 
cluded to enjoy a boat ride on the lake. Going down to 
the beach we met two or three boatmen who had very 
nice row-boats and who appealed to us in a mixture of 
French, German and Italian, to engage them. After 
some negotiation as to price, as they asked us three times 
what they should have demanded, we arranged with one 
of them at a fairly reasonable stipend. We were soon 
out on the lake. It was as lovely a moonlight night as 
anyone could imagine. There were a number of other 
people rowing on the lake and many of the boats were 
filled with people, song and laughter. The music from 
the hotel orchestras also floated out over the water, and 
the reflection of the lights on the mirror-like surface 
was magnificent. At one time a boat load of singers 
passed near us. They were singing an Italian air and 
were accompanied by some instrument. We listened to 
them with considerable pleasure and, as they reached 
the closing stanza and there was silence on the lake, I 
was impressed with the idea that it would be proper to 
return the compliment of their music, so I responded in 
a somewhat vigorous manner with a few verses of that 
old southern melody: 

"On the Tombigbee River so bright, was I born 
In a little thatched cot 'mid the tall yellow corn, 
It was there that I met my sweet Alice so true, 
And I rowed her about in my gumtree canoe." 

153 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUEOPE 

They seemed to listen attentively, but it is hardly 
necessary to say that this closed the singing for that 
evening on that part of the lake. But it was an enchant- 
ing scene, and, as the boatman lighted a little lamp and 
placed it in the bow of the boat and in so doing had his 
back turned in our direction, I felt that it was an oc- 
casion when a man might be justified in making love to 
and even kissing his own wife. 

CROSSING THE ALPS 

Our next stopping place was the wonderfully beau- 
tiful city of Lucerne on the famous lake after which the 
town is named. In order to reach Lucerne from Lu- 
gano, it is necessary to cross the Alps. The crossing of 
the Alps has now been made famous by the journey hav- 
ing been made by four distinguished individuals; the 
first of whom was Hannibal, the great general, who 
crossed in the year 219 B. C. The next was Albert von 
Stade, a Benedictine monk, who went over the Alps in 
the thirteenth century. The next was Napoleon I., who 
crossed with his armies about the year 1800, to subdue 
Lombardy, and the next was your humble servant, the 
writer of these lines, who crossed in the month of May 
of this year. 

It is recorded of Hannibal that his trip over the 
Alps was undertaken with 90,000 men on foot, 12,000 
men on horses and 37 elephants; that at the end of his 
journey he could muster only 20,000 men on foot and 
6,000 men on horses. The elephants and the other 
76,000 men and 6,000 horses had been left in the snow 
and ice along the way. 

How many soldiers Napoleon lost on his campaign 
over the Alps I am unable to say. As the Benedictine 

154 



ST. GOTHARD RAILWAY 

monk went entirely by himself and had nothing to start 
with, nor acquired anything afterwards, he did not lose 
anything on the way. I am glad to record at this time 
that the fourth person mentioned above as having 
crossed the Alps came through in most excellent shape 
with all of his belongings. He had the advantage of the 
others, as the facilities have been improved. 

THE ST. GOTHARD RAILWAY 

In going from Lugano to Lucerne we took the St. 
Gothard railway from Lugano to a little town called 
Fluelen, and a steamer from there on the lake of Lucerne 
to the city. The building of the railroad was one of the 
most remarkable pieces of railway engineering that has 
ever been accomplished. I have traveled over the most 
picturesque railways in America and Mexico — railways 
that in their building seemed almost to overcome the 
insurmountable of obstacles. But it appears to me that 
the building of this double-track St. Gothard railway 
presented more problems than were encountered in any 
or all of the other ralways over which I have traveled. 

It follows rivers, ravines and mountain crevices. It 
penetrates great mountains of stone and is carried on 
spider-like bridges over immense chasms. It winds, 
twists and loops over itself as though it were some great 
serpent in distress and presents the most beautiful land- 
scapes and daring pictures that could possibly be im- 
agined. In less than two hundred miles it passes 
through seventy-six tunnels, crosses three hundred and 
twenty-four large bridges and many small ones and 
uses altogether one thousand, three hundred and eighty- 
four artificial structures. Five times on its way the 
tracks loop the loop. They leave what would appear to 

155 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

be their proper route, dash into the dark, stony moun- 
tains, come around hundreds of yards, rise spirally, and 
come out over and above the same tracks in order to get 
a higher elevation on the mountain side. Sometimes the 
mountains are thousands of feet above the tracks on one 
side and the valleys almost as far below on the other. 
Beneath, as you look down, you see the green valley and 
the purling streams. Abreast of you are the great cas- 
cades, leaping hundreds of feet over the mountain 
ridges, and far above them are the eternal snows of the 
mountain tops. There are scores of these cascades that 
leap out over the mountain as though they were set up 
for your edification and operated for your pleasure as 
you go by. 

Away up on the hillsides are little Swiss cottages; 
beyond them are great hotels with their cable railways 
leading to them. Above them are the mountain tops and 
the only thing above them is the dome of heaven, for the 
mountains reach higher than the clouds. 

ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL 

The greatest work on this railway was the building 
of the St. Gothard tunnel below the pass, from which the 
road takes its name. This is nine miles long, accommo- 
dates a double track railway the entire length ; is twenty 
feet high, twenty-six feet wide and cost fifteen million 
dollars. It took ten years to build it and over two mil- 
lion pounds of dynamite was used in the necessary blast- 
ing. The history of the construction of this tunnel, if 
written out, would make a story that would be as roman- 
tic as though it were not the truth. This tunnel is im- 
mediately beneath the St. Gothard pass, where the old 
monks with their St. Bernard dogs saved so many lives 

156 



ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL 

before the tunnel was built, and are engaged in the 
same arduous and charitable work at this time. This 
tunnel is one thousand feet immediately beneath the 
village of Andermatt, three thousand feet beneath the 
Lake of Sella, and six thousand feet below the summit 
of the mountain. 

The old monks, while they do not have as much to 
do in the way of rescue as they had before this railway 
was completed, still find it necessary to maintain their 
hospice and their dogs to save the lives of people who 
get lost in the everlasting snows of the Alps. 

In Switzerland, I do not remember the exact lo- 
cation now, there is a somewhat pretentious monument 
erected to one of these dogs. This animal had a record 
of having saved the lives of fifty persons, but unfor- 
tunately came to his death by being stabbed by a man 
who had become delirious from his sufferings, and whose 
life this faithful dog was endeavoring to save at the 
time. Is it any wonder that people like dogs as well as 
they do? 



157 



Chapter XII 



ON LAKE LUCERNE 

Arriving at the little town of Fluelen, and our 
tickets being good either on the train or on the boat to 
Lucerne, we concluded to accept the latter alternative 
and enjoy a ride up this lake, which is justly cele- 
brated as one of the most beautiful of all lakes. Of 
course the water in one lake looks about the same as the 
water in any other lake, but Lucerne is so completely 
surrounded by majestic, snow-capped mountains, is so 
irregular in its shape, and so walled in by great preci- 
pices, that its beauty is peculiar to itself. It is also a 
place of considerable historical importance and its 
legends are based on the most extravagant fancies. 

At Fluelen are the remarkable roadways that are 
tunneled through the solid rock along the margin of the 
lake. The natural solid stone walls rise so abruptly 
from the water of the lake that there is no room for 
roadways between the water and the bluffs. To fa- 
cilitate travel, roadways are cut through these solid 
walls near the surface, and for light and ventilation 
openings are made through the walls looking Out onto 
the lake. When one contemplates the work of building 
such roads, he can have some idea as to the industry, 
thrift and staying qualities of the hardy natives of 
Switzerland. At several places back of this roadway, 
built in like manner, is the tunnel through which the 

158 



WILLIAM TELL 

railroad passes, so that as you pass up the lake on a 
steamer it is very interesting to see the carriages on the 
roadway and the railway trains pass in and out of these 
tunnels. They look as though they were playing hide 
and seek with each other or the people on the boat. 

I could not name all the mountains that can be seen 
from Lake Lucerne. Very few people can. But two of 
the most remarkable are Mt. Riga and Mt. Pilatus. Both 
of these have railways running to the top or nearly so, 
and large hotels are open there in the summer season. 
Mt. Pilatus is named after Pontius Pilate, and there is a 
legend that after the crucifixion of Christ, Pontius Pi- 
late, filled with remorse, came to this mountain and, go- 
ing to the top thereof, committed suicide. There used 
to be a good deal of superstition regarding this moun- 
tain, and people were not allowed to go up on Friday, 
but since the railroad has been built to the top and the 
hotel is opened up there, these superstitions have, to a 
considerable extent, disappeared, and people go up there 
and stay up there every day in the week. 

Soon after embarking on the boat we came to a lit- 
tle chapel close to the water's edge, which is called 
' ' Tell 's Chapel. ' ' All over Switzerland you hear of Wil- 
liam Tell, and, while William Tell perhaps never lived, 
he still remains the one greatest man of Switzerland. I 
think it just as well, then, to stop here and tell a little 
of this remarkable character who is famous as having 
shot the apple from his son's head, and after whom a 
beautiful opera has been named, based upon Schiller's 
famous drama bearing this illustrious name. 

THE STORY OF WILLIAM TELL 

It appears that, in the year 1307, Austria had con- 

159 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

trol of Switzerland, and, as a representative of Austria 
in control of the subjugated country, was a governor by 
the name of Gessler, who, however, was known by the 
title of bailiff. Nowadays, in our country, that title is 
usually applied only to court sheriffs, but in those days 
it seems to have been an important designation. Gess- 
ler was not satisfied to administer the affairs of Switzer- 
land in even an overbearing and oppressive manner, but 
must go further and humiliate the citizens of the proud 
little country. He, therefore, placed a cap on a tall pole 
in one of the principal cities and ordered all of the na- 
tives to come in and pass by that cap on the pole and 
bow to the same in token of their submission to his rule 
and that of the emperor of Austria. 

"William Tell was a hunter that lived near Burglen 
in the canton of Uri, and was then a member of a con- 
spiracy against Austria to overthrow its usurpation and 
to gain the freedom of Switzerland. Tell was an inde- 
pendent patriot and a man of very strong convictions. 
He had ideas of his own, and one of these was that he 
would not surrender to Gessler, no matter whether he 
represented the emperor of Austria or any other poten- 
tate on the face of the globe. He therefore refused to 
make obeisance to Gessler 's cap. For this he was thrown 
into prison and condemned to death. Tell had achieved 
at least a local reputation as a good shot with a bow and 
arrow, which was the principal weapon of warfare in 
Switzerland at that time. Gessler heard of this and 
made a proposition to Tell that he would pardon him on 
one condition, that condition being that Tell should shoot 
an apple from the head of his own beloved son. This 
required such expert marksmanship that Gessler was 

160 




THE LION OF LUCERNE. 
'One of the most impressive, dignified, beautiful and peculiar monuments 



that could have been designed." — Page 167. 



WILLIAM TELL 

sure that, if Tell should make the attempt, it would re- 
sult in shooting his son through the head. Tell, however, 
having confidence in his ability to hit the mark, accepted 
the proposition, and, on a certain day, before a large as- 
semblage, the test was undertaken. It was a wonder- 
ful shot. Tell's trustworthy arrow sped from the bow, 
struck the apple directly in the center, splitting it in 
two parts, which fell one on each side of his boy. Under 
the conditions Tell was entitled to his freedom. But just 
before it was granted, Gessler noted that Tell had placed 
two arrows in his quiver, the one of which he had used 
in shooting the apple, but the other remained unused. 
Gessler asked Tell why he had carried with him the sec- 
ond arrow. Tell answered that while he was certain that 
he would accomplish the difficult task of shooting the ap- 
ple off his boy's head, there was some chance that the 
arrow would fall short and pierce the head or heart 
of his son. In that event he would have used the 
second arrow to shoot Gessler and would have caused 
his death before anyone couid have interfered. This 
explanation, while true and likewise honest, did not 
please Gessler at all, and he refused to grant the par- 
don as agreed. So Tell was again placed in chains 
to be taken to the village of Kussnacht for a new 
trial, which, under the circumstances, would very like- 
ly have resuted in his again being condemned to death. 
"While they were crossing the lake the boat was over- 
taken by a severe storm and was in great danger of 
being wrecked. As Tell was a good sailor and the only 
good sailor on board, he was unchained in order that he 
might steer the craft to safety. He assumed the re- 
sponsibility, and, taking the helm of the boat, soon had 

161 

—11 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

it in a direct line for the shore. But as he reached 
the point where this little chapel now stands, he 
turned the rudder, swung the boat around, and, as it 
started for the center of the lake, Tell made a great leap, 
landed safely on the shore, and the boat went back into 
the raging storm. One might have supposed that Tell 
would have used his knowledge of the country and the 
sturdiness of his limbs to get away from Gessler, but not 
so. Tell was not satisfied with such a course and felt that 
he had a grievance against the foreign bailiff, and a duty 
to his country to perform. 

He therefore secreted himself at a certain point in 
the forest overlooking a defile through which it would 
be necessary for Gessler to pass on his way to his home in 
case he escaped from the storm on the lake. The devil 
usually takes care of his own, and so it was in this case, 
but only to a certain extent. Gessler managed to again 
bring the boat to shore and started with his followers 
through the wood, considerably chagrined that he had lost 
his prisoner. As he passed where Tell was concealed, 
the great forester arose, and, pulling back the string of 
his bow, sent an arrow through the heart of his hated foe 
and Gessler fell from his horse dead before his body- 
guard could reach him. 

The news of Gessler 's death spread like wild-fire 
over the country and was the occasion of a general up- 
rising in the cantons. An army was quickly raised and 
Switzerland thereby gained its freedom, and Tell be- 
came the greatest character that this part of the world 
has ever known. 

This happened nearly six hundred years ago, and 
almost all the time since that the historians and students 

162 



WILLIAM TELL 

have been carrying on a controversy as to whether Tell 
ever lived or whether he did not, or whether the whole 
story of William Tell, Gessler and the apple is only a 
myth. 

Be that as it may, this chapel represents the place 
where Tell made his famous leap, and a great leap it was. 

There is another Tell Chapel in the woods a few 
miles beyond Lucerne in the other direction. This chapel 
commemorates the death of Tell, who was supposed to 
have lost his life in the saving of a child in a great 
freshet which occurred in one of the mountain rivers of 
Switzerland. 

In this second chapel there are two rather crude pic- 
tures, one of which represents Tell and Gessler just as 
the arrow had pierced the latter and he is falling from 
his horse. The other picture represents Tell throwing a 
child to its mother as the torrent is carrying him over 
the cataract. "Whether Tell lived or whether he did not, 
his story is a good one, and in these latter years Tell has 
had many imitators. Buffalo Bill, when first posing as a 
sure shot in exhibitions, used to electrify his audience 
by shooting potatoes off the head of one of his assistants ; 
using a rifle, however, instead of a bow and arrow. 
Several other expert shots in vaudeville, with rifles, have 
repeated the act of Tell and have shot apples from the 
heads of other persons. 

A few years ago, a noted expert shot of this kind, 
whose wife held the apple on her head, sent a bullet 
crashing through her brain and she died almost in- 
stantly. 

Near the Tell Chapel, on the other side of the lake, 
is a natural stone obelisk, which stands high above the 

163 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

water of the lake. It has been converted into a monu- 
ment to the immortal Schiller, who wrote the drama on 
the life of William Tell, and his name with appropriate 
dedication has been placed in letters of gold upon this 
natural monument. They evidently feel kindly toward 
Schiller in Switzerland for what he did for the fame of 
William Tell. 

Another peculiar monument on the banks of the 
Lake of Lucerne is near the city. It stands on a rocky 
point, the figure being clothed in a gown, with the hands 
outstretched as inviting the world to come. This stands 
near a large private villa, and, I was told, was erected 
by a wealthy woman who owns the villa, as a shrine and 
to commemorate her recovery from a very serious ill- 
ness. 

THE CITY OF LUCERNE 

After a few hours ride on this very beautiful 
lake, in which time we had passed a number of steamers 
similar to the one on which we were, and several towns, 
we came to that gem of municipalities, known through- 
out the civilized world for its own peculiar beauty and 
the magnificent surroundings which it enjoys. That 
place which almost everybody wants to see at least once, 
and, having seen it once, is sure to have a desire to re- 
turn and see it again. That Mecca of many travelers, 
that resting place of all, the lovely city of Lucerne. 

I know of few places that are more inviting and 
that look more substantial, and, at the same time, more 
fairy-like than this city. Where it is located the lake 
comes to an end and narrows into a river which is 
spanned by a peculiar bridge which is noted for the sa- 
cred pictures which ornament the cross braces and beams 

164 



GOOD PLACE TO REST 

the entire length of the bridge, and there is another 
bridge beyond. The town is on both sides of this river 
and bends around the end of the lake in a graceful 
horseshoe curve. There is a succession of villas, hotels, 
parks and churches along the lake front. All the houses 
seem to be ornamental, the old bridges are quaint, some 
great fortresses are in evidence with picturesque min- 
arets, towers and battlements. One church, larger than 
all the rest, has two tall steeples, and even the railway 
station, which is a large building, is of peculiar con- 
struction, and has a dome like some great public edifice. 
The city is backed on all sides by high hills, many of 
which continue up in peaks and points until they reach 
that line above which the snow and ice remain every day 
of the year, and Mt. Pilatus is the giant of them all. 
In looking at Lucerne as you approach it, it presents a 
view that is the most advantageous possible for the dis- 
play of a lovely picturesque city. 

A GOOD PLACE TO REST 

The hotels are numerous and some of them are very 
fine structures. The one which we selected as a stopping 
place suited me first-rate. It was a comparatively new 
.house, having been in operation only about one year. 
It was built of a nearly white stone with a French roof 
and was a very pleasing specimen of architecture from 
jthe outside. The main entrance was beneath a small 
arch, supported by large statues on each side. It had 
one of the new style revolving doors which was made 
almost entirely of plate glass, and set in a wall or par- 
tition made of plate glass with bevel edges, and each 
piece apparently cut in different shape. The floors 
were of marble and the halls were wainscoted with tile. 

165 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

In addition to this all the walls were covered in the 
center with the finest of green velvet carpets. A mod- 
ern elevator carried people to the upper floors. At least 
one-half of the rooms were supplied with elegant hath 
compartments. The furniture was mahogany and the 
beds, besides the ordinary linen and coverlets, were 
supplied with soft swansdown comforts, two inches 
thick and covered with red satin or silk. The lounging 
rooms were very extensive and frescoed in the most deli- 
cate colors, and the furniture there was massive and 
expensive. The large dining room overlooked the lake 
and the extensive windows on that side were all fanciful 
in shape and made of cut glass with bevel edges. Ad- 
joining the dining room was a palm garden beyond 
which was a small pier for the use of sail-boats and row- 
boats, then came the lake, and beyond were the great 
Alps in full view, in all colors from the darkest green 
of the shrubbery on the shore line, above which were 
the more sombre colors of the stone, and above and be- 
yond that, the ice and snow that glistened in the sunlight. 
The attendants at the hotel all appeared in full dress, 
that is to say, were clothed with low-cut vests, starched 
shirt bosoms and claw-hammer coats. Everything was 
in keeping with the surroundings of a palace and the 
prices at this hotel were very reasonable considering the 
elegance of its appointments. 

One day while in Lucerne, we took dinner at an up- 
town restaurant. In addition to the dining rooms in 
the main building, there were tables in the garden 
which was enclosed on three sides. On these three sides 
were wide glass verandas under which some of the tables 
were set, while others stood out in the open. The gar 

166 



THE LION OF LUCERNE 

den was well filled with trees and vines and flowers were 
quite abundant. The young ladies who waited on the 
tables were dressed in the typical Swiss costume, their 
bodices being ornamented with large bright silver chains 
with heavy fastenings, and their aprons being of red 
silk. The bosoms of their dresses were filled in with a 
white, light, airy material which might be familiar to 
women, but which I am unable to name, and their 
waists were surrounded by black velvet bodices that 
made them look quite robust. 

There was an orchestra of several instruments, 
played entirely by young ladies in white, and they made 
good, cheerful music. I was somewhat amused by the 
audacity and forwardness of the little birds that were 
in evidence at this place. They appeared to be the same 
as our English sparrows in America, and while we were 
eating they camped around our tables waiting for the 
crumbs to fall, and, as small pieces of bread were 
thrown to them, they would fight for them greedily and 
devour them speedily. But they did not have things 
entirely to themselves, as there were two small rattan 
dogs which disputed the possession of the field with them 
and divided the crumbs and cheese which the guests 
tossed on the stone floor. 

THE LION OF LUCERNE 

The most remarkable work of art in the city of Lu- 
cerne is Thorwaldsen's statue of the "Dying Lion," 
usually called "The Lion of Lucerne." This is a monu- 
ment to the faithful Swiss guards, who gave up their 
lives in Paris for Louis XV. of France while defending 
his person. It is one of the most impressive, one of the 
most dignified, one of the most beautiful, and at the 

167 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

same time, one of the most peculiar monuments that 
could have been designed. It represents a dying lion 
with the broken end of a spear piercing its body. It is 
a bas-relief cut on the edge of an immense ledge of 
nearly white sandstone of a quality for which Switzer- 
land is famous. The ledge is thirty or forty feet high, 
when measured vertically, and of great length the other 
way. Below the lion are the names of the guards for 
whom this monument was created. While the figure is 
referred to as a bas-relief, it is really more than that as 
its surounding background is cut so deep that it amounts 
practically to a reclining figure as it would appear if it 
were resting on a base instead of upon a vertical ledge 
of stone. The figure of the lion is over twenty feet 
long. Beyond it is a little lake of clear, blue water over 
which you look and which forms a fine prospect for the 
picture which is thereby presented with great dignity. 
The lion in its death is guarding the "Bourbon" shield 
and the "Lily of France." 

THE GREAT ORGAN 

One of the special attractions of Lucerne is the 
great organ in the church on which a recital is given 
nearly every evening during the traveling season. I do 
not know that this is considered one of the great organs 
of the world, but it is rather an extensive instrument. 
I should judge that an ordinary person could be dropped 
feet first down the main pipes if they did not hold on to 
the upper edges. While the instrument did not seem 
so very large, I have never listened to an organ that 
sent forth such a volume of sound. Among other se- 
lections at the recital which we attended, the organist 
gave one of his own compositions, entitled, "A Storm in 

168 



WHERE DOGS WORK 

the Alps." I never thought it possible to get so much 
music and so many different sounds out of an organ as 
emanated from this instrument in the rendering of this 
selection. The imitations of the quick reports of thun- 
der, its long, echoing rolls, the whistling of the winds, 
the crashing of avalanches, and the other sounds that 
accompany the great event of a storm in the Alps, I 
think must have been as near to those of a real storm 
as could have been produced. I have listened to several 
organ recitals, but this one was far and away ahead of 
anything that ever came to me in my experiences in that 
line. 

A printed program of the entertainment contained 
a complete history of the organ, which is as follows: 

"Die grosse Orgel der Hofkirche wurde im Jahre 
1651 durch Geisler von Salzburg erstellt ; im Jahre 1862 
wurde dieselbe durch Orgelbauer Haas van Luzern 
erweitert und im Jahre 1898-99 durch dessen Nachfolger 
F. Goll mit rohrenpneumatischem Betreib versehen." 

The reader can interpret this to suit himself. I 
guess it means that the organ was first built in 1651, 
enlarged in 1862 and pneumatic action added in 1898-99. 

WHERE DOGS WORK 

Lucerne was the first place where we found the 
dogs earning their keep by working, as is the custom in 
a large part of Europe. 

One evening as I was walking from the hotel toward 
the main part of the city I heard a noise that caused me 
to turn and look. It was made by a combination of a 
milk-cart, a man and a dog. The cart was filled with 
milk cans. It was a two-wheeled affair with handles 
or shafts. These shafts were held by the man, while the 

169 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

dog was hitched on to one side. It was a little down hill 
at the time and as the combination came along I should 
judge the rate attained must have been something like 
a mile in two minutes. The man was taking strides 
which I should say would locate his tracks at least fif- 
teen feet apart. The dog was on a gallop and struck the 
ground only about as often as the man did. The wheels 
were rattling on the stones, the cans were rattling in the 
wagon, and the dog was barking in a loud tone and the 
man was shouting at every jump. I never saw a dog 
and a man that appeared any more happy than this 
man and this dog at that particular time. They passed 
me with a rush and without stopping for an introduc- 
tion, and, as far as I could see, were going at about the 
same rate that they made while passing me. After this, 
I saw many such teams. Sometimes they have two dogs ; 
one hitched on each side of the shafts, a man or woman 
between, and in some places they had dog teams alto- 
gether. I have seen some dogs with big carts hauling 
men, when, with the weight of the cart, I should judge, 
the load would outweigh the dog at least four to one. 
It is surprising how much and how hard dogs will pull 
when attached to a wagon. I really felt sorry for a 
team of dogs in Belgium which, with their master, were 
hitched to a lunch wagon nearly as large as an omnibus. 
They made an endeavor to scale an incline leading over 
a railway track. The man and the two dogs came with 
a great rush, they united in a long pull, a strong pull 
and a pull all together, and, with the momentum they had 
attained, had well nigh reached the top of the incline 
when the momentum they had acquired and the strength 
of the man gave out, and the big lunch wagon started 

170 



WHERE DOGS WORK 

backwards down the hill, up whence it had come. The 
two dogs sank their claws into the macadam, they surged 
on their collars, their tongues lolled out until they 
nearly reached the ground, but in spite of all their ef- 
forts, the wagon went on backward down the hill, 
dragging the dogs with it, and leaving marks where 
their claws dragged through the dust and the stones in 
trying to save the day. As they reached the bottom, 
they looked up at their master with a look of discourage- 
ment that was truly pitiful. Two or three men, how- 
ever, came to the rescue. The cart was started up again 
and the hill was scaled to the great satisfaction of the 
man who owned the lunch wagon and the evident de- 
light of the dogs who were assisting him on his way to 
his all night stand. 



171 



Chapter XIII 



TRAVELERS BY CLASSES 

There are three classes of people that travel in for- 
eign countries, that are somewhat different from each 
other. One class is made up of those people who have 
wealth and leisure, have probably retired from business 
and are in no hurry to get to any particular place, nor 
are they in any particular hurry to get home, and, hav- 
ing seen a great deal of the world, they are not particu- 
larly anxious to chase very furiously to see new sights 
and new surroundings. Another class of travelers is 
made up of people of moderate means who have but lit- 
tle time or little money to spend in traveling, and, not 
having seen much of the world, they are bent on seeing 
everything that presents itself, and those things which 
do not present themselves must be looked up rapidly and 
disposed of hurriedly. Between these two classes is a 
sort of middle class who try to enjoy travel as they go 
along and see as much as can be seen, at least with 
moderate exertion. There is no very well denned line 
where any of these several classes leaves off and where 
the others commence, but they all sort of drift along to- 
gether, and each class does the best they can. All of 
them are frequently confronted with the problem, "how 
long will I stay at this place V I guess we were along 
about the middle class and the same question was up to 
us again. 

172 



A STUDY OP SKULLS 

A STUDY OF SKULLS 

"We had spent two nights and more than one clay 
in Lucerne, and, while we would have liked to re- 
main longer and could have enjoyed ourselves many 
more days with those lovely surroundings, we concluded 
it would be best to go on to Interlaken, which was also 
one of the objective points of our trip. The train left 
Lucerne about 10 o'clock in the morning and we got to 
the station considerably before that time. "While we 
were waiting for the train I noticed a large building 
which had a sign designating it as a war museum, so I 
sauntered over there to see what there was on exhibition. 
Paying a small admission fee, I passed through the door 
and came upon a very creditable display of the imple- 
ments of war, consisting of machine guns, cannon, mus- 
kets, bayonets, swords, etc., that were very well ar- 
ranged. Then there was a sort of panorama of war 
scenes, most of which were battles among the 
stormy peaks of the Alpine mountains. These were 
arranged in such a manner as to represent battles 
wherein the background was painted and the fore- 
ground was made up of wax figures and forms some- 
what similar to the work of the battle of Gettysburg, 
which was on exhibition for several years in Chicago. 

After seeing almost everthing else on .exhibition, 
I came to a large case filled with human skulls, evi- 
dently collected from many battlefields and exhibited 
to show the effect of bullets upon them. There were 
ghastly gaps in the most of them. Some had small holes 
where the bullets had entered at one side and come out 
at the other, making as clean a hole as though bored 
with a drill. Others had large openings probably made 

173 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

by larger shot or by bursting shells. Some had holes 
where- the bullets had gone inside the skull and had 
caused death without going further. Some were frac- 
tured and large sections gone. One that attracted more 
of my attention than almost any other seemed to have 
been broken in at least a hundred pieces, like a cracked 
egg shell. All the pieces had been perfectly fitted to- 
gether and were fastened with small staples of copper 
wire. Each piece appeared to fit its respective place, 
and the putting together of this broken vase of thought 
appeared to me a most remarkable and well done job. 
I could hardly imagine, though, how a skull could have 
been so completely broken and cracked unless it had 
been carefully done after the bone was duly seasoned, 
although I presume it was presented here as showing 
one of the evil effects of war, and was supposed to have 
been recovered from the battlefield in its present condi- 
tion. 

COG RAILWAY 

The route to Interlaken was by rail, through a 
mountainous country, several miles, until we came to 
Lake Brienz, where we took a boat for the rest of 
the journey. The railway route was quite picturesque, 
and somewhat of the same nature as the roads I have 
described heretofore. It was the first cog railway, how- 
ever, that we had come in contact with in this part of 
the country. The grade was so great on some portions 
of this trip, that the regular engines were switched to 
one side and cog engines were coupled to the train. 
A cog rack was attached to the cross ties midway be- 
tween the rails and a strong pinion or cog wheel placed 
between the drivers of the engine engaged with this 

174 



A LAKE RIDE 

rack. While the speed of these engines was not great, 
they could climb to a considerable elevation in rather a 
short time. A LAKE RmE 

After going up and down by the use of these cog 
engines a good part of the day, we came to the lake 
where a steamer was awaiting the approach of the train 
to complete the journey to Interlaken. It was a very 
nice little steamer, would accommodate a hundred or so 
of people, and was all ready to start on the arrival of the 
train. As the weather was pleasant, and I was anxious 
to see all there was to be seen, I selected a nice location 
on the upper deck very near the bow of the boat, and 
presumed if there was anything to be seen I would be 
about the first person to see it. When the boat was let 
loose and started out into the lake, I was somewhat sur- 
prised to find that I was riding with my back in the di- 
rection that the steamer was progressing, and it ap- 
peared to be running backward. On making an exami- 
nation as to the cause, I found that this boat was of 
peculiar construction, and that it had a bow at each 
end. It appears that some of the landings which it 
visits are in such narrow rivers or necks of the lake that 
there is not sufficient room to turn around, and as it 
must come out in the same channel that it went in, 
it is necessary to run it first one end to and then the 
other end to, as is the custom with some ferry boats in 
our country. So my pains in securing myself a seat 
near the bow of the boat had all been for naught. How- 
ever, the ride was very delightful until we came into 
the port of Interlaken. When the boat arrived there, 
a sudden rain storm had set in and the water was com- 
ing down in torrents. 

175 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Interlaken is a great place for hotels and they have 
here a somewhat peculiar rule. There is a sort of dead 
line to which all of the busses back up, which is some 
distance from the boat landing. It is, therefore, neces- 
sary, in order to get into a bus, to go across a rather 
wide open space and you catch the rapidly descending 
rain as you go. By the time all the passengers had made 
this trip and were thoroughly drenched, most of the 
busses were pretty well filled and the matter of baggage 
was then looked after. "When the passengers are seated 
in the busses the baggage is placed on top and in order 
to load the baggage the busses drive down over the dead- 
line to the steamboat landing and take on the baggage. 
I could hardly see the necessity of compelling the pas- 
sengers to get drenched first and then have the busses 
drive down to the landing afterwards, but that appears 
to be the rule of the game at this landing and so we 
all submitted meekly and went up to the hotel wet 
enough for all ordinary purposes. 

A SWISS TOWN 

Interlaken is a real Swiss town. It is not a very- 
large place and is made up mostly of hotels and board- 
ing houses. It lies on a narrow piece of land between 
Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, the name Interlaken sig- 
nifying its location between lakes. It is surrounded in 
almost every direction by high snow-capped mountains 
and is really a charming little place. Many of the 
houses are of the utlra-Swiss pattern built of solid, 
square timbers, the ends overlapping each other and 
being locked together by being notched into each other 
thus making a sort of rustic corners. They all have the 
gable style of roof, that extends considerably over the 

176 



A SWISS TOWN 

side walls, somewhat like the pattern of a railway depot. 
Many of the houses are built in connection with the 
barn, the barn occupying probably the larger part of the 
house and the people living in the other part. Quite a 
number of them are fancifully carved and frequently 
some quotation from the Bible is carved or painted in the 
German language across the front. The yards and 
premises are usually in most excellent condition, for the 
Swiss are a very industrious people. 

Near the center of the city is a park or garden 
called the Kursaal, that is well kept and has a magnifi- 
cent display of flowers. I have never seen pansies of 
such large size and of such exquisite beauty as grow in 
this garden. One bed particularly, some eighteen or 
twenty feet in diameter and rounded up over the top, 
formed a bouquet of these flowers, each one nearly as 
large in diameter as the top of an ordinary drinking 
tumbler. In this garden, which has an entrance of 
towers, etc., somewhat after the nature of Luna Park 
in New York, is also a musical stage or pavilion, quite 
ornamental, and with an auditorium with a cement floor 
and partly open to the skies, capable of seating two or 
three thousand people. 

The principal feature of the concert the night we 
were there was the singing of a Maennerchor from 
Heidelberg. There were sixty or seventy people in the 
chorus and they were so much like the Maennerchors we 
have at home that if a person had not known that he 
was in Switzerland some five thousand miles from the 
center of the United States, he could hardly have told 
from the appearance and singing of these gentlemen 
whether they were from St. Louis, Milwaukee, Oshkosh 

177 

—12 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

or Kalamazoo. At the close of their singing they were 
presented with a large wreath of flowers about the size 
of a horse collar, which I understood was to be worn 
about the neck of the leader. 

A NEW GAME TO ME 

The audience that listened to the concert were 
mostly seated about small, round tables at which beer 
and wine was served by a number of young ladies. 
Nearly the whole town appeared to be present at this 
concert, besides many foreign visitors. Just back of the 
hall was a large room nicely furnished and carpeted 
with red velvet carpet, in the center of which was a sort 
of embryonic Monte Carlo. There was a large green- 
covered table in this room which had a depressed place 
in the center somewhat in the shape of what, I believe, is 
called in the United States a roulette table, in which 
were further depressions and each depression was named 
after one of the large cities of the world. There was 
Rome, Vienna, Paris, New York, London, etc. The 
table was surrounded by several men dressed in full 
evening dress who were the operators of the game. A 
number of players were circled about the table placing 
their money on the different cities named, while a man 
directly opposite the circle in the center of the table 
had a rubber ball which he rolled rather skillfully, 
without aim, and which, after traversing around and 
around, would locate in one of the holes or depressions 
named after the cities as stated above, in which event 
the persons who played on that particular city would 
have an increase of their venture in the proportion of 
about ten to one. I noticed that New York won out 
several times, and, while I felt a pardonable pride in 

178 



A NEW GAME TO ME 

the success of our home town, I rather resented the idea 
of using the American flag, which was next to New 
York, as the flag of each country was next to the city of 
the country named, for the purpose of gambling. I was 
more attracted, however, by the way a man at the table 
raked in the money with a little, long-handled wooden 
rake and the skill with which he could send a piece of 
silver across the table to anyone who might be a winner. 
He took great pride in the two actions, and, while he 
may have raked in the money with more satisfaction 
than he experienced in throwing it back, he apparently 
did the latter act as cheerfully and skillfully as he did 
the first. I think the way he could shoot a dollar to the 
mark, if applied to the game of base ball, would have 
made him a phenomenal pitcher. I understood that this 
was a licensed game, and, I think, if continued, it will 
have a very demoralizing influence on the sturdy and 
industrious people of Switzerland. 

"When we came to Interlaken, it was with the in- 
tention of scaling the Alps, as the trip up Mt. Jung- 
frau really commences from Interlaken. But the first 
morning we were there it was raining and the fog and 
the clouds were so thick that it would have been im- 
possible to see anything on the mountain tops. This 
gave me, however, a little time in the morning to do 
some work on my letters for publication at home. Be- 
sides this we inspected the shops, laid in some postal 
cards and some little trinkets and mementoes of this 
place. I remember particularly that we bought a nice 
little vase to hold flowers. It was so frail that we 
thought the safest way to carry it would be to drop it 
in the cover (which was turned down) of the carriage 

179 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

in which we were riding, and if it has not been re- 
moved therefrom, it is there yet, for that is the last 
we saw of it, as we got out of the carriage and dis- 
charged the driver without thinking of the vase. 

A CAVE AND A RIVER 

Having an afternoon on our hands, we drove out 
along the shores of Lake Thun to see a rather remark- 
able cave and subterranean river. The road there led 
between a number of suburban houses and garden 
places until it came to Lake Thun. Adjoining the lake, 
the road had been blasted out of the solid stone along 
the hillside and in some places the rocks overhung the 
roadway nearly its entire width. At one or two places 
it was tunneled through the stone high above the lake 
with arches here and there to look out over the waters. 
As these mountains and hills are full of crevices 
through which the water leaks, these tunnels would 
have made a rather wet driveway had they not been 
shielded in a manner that was new to me. It appears 
that after cutting the tunnels through the rock, they 
had used a form in the shape of an arch within the 
tunnel and over the roadway by which they had made 
concrete roofs which were hung from the stone above 
so that the water in trickling through the crevices 
fell on this artificial roof and was carried down to gut- 
ters on each side of the roadway on which we traveled. 

Arriving at our destination, we found a stone 
building well up on the side of the mountain which 
served as a sort of lodge for the keepers of the cave 
and offices for the sale of tickets, etc. Part of this 
stone structure was in the shape of an arch from which 
burst forth a miniature river which had its origin away 

180 



A CAVE AND A RIVER 

in the recesses of the cave, and which followed its tortu- 
ous way through the cave in the mountain to this open- 
ing. Then it burst forth from its prison and by a suc- 
cession of falls and cascades found its way to the lake 
several hundred feet below. 

I should say in a general way that the stream was 
about twenty-five feet wide, the waters were as clear 
as crystal, and it presented a very beautiful and in- 
spiring sight as it went down in its great volume over 
the stones with a rush and a roar, leaping over every 
obstacle, weaving itself into a hundred lace curtains 
and many bridal veils, and finally pouring into the 
clear waters of the lake below. 

The ascent from the roadway to the mouth of the 
cave whence this river came forth leads up in a zigzag 
manner, crossing and recrossing the falling stream on 
its way and presenting some beautiful pictures. In 
addition to the cave from which the waters were burst- 
ing forth was another opening leading into the same 
to one side of the main entrance. This was formerly 
supposed to be the habitation of a school of monks, 
some of whom were said to be buried therein, and one 
or two skeletons were exposed in rude coffins dating 
back many years. In this opening is a wax figure of 
an old gray-haired hermit who formerly lived there 
and who was represented seated at a table in deep 
study; his table was lighted by a little old style lamp, 
and a primitive fire-place in which a pot hung from 
a hook in the chimney was illuminated by a very in- 
genious arrangement of modern electric lamps that 
made it appear nearly as natural as life and carried 
one back a long way in his ideas. 

181 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

This cave is now in control of a company who have 
extended wires all through its various openings, and 
placed in the stream a turbine water wheel that is 
operated by the force of this subterranean river and 
generates electricity, so that the cave is brilliantly 
illuminated far into the interior. 

This company have also built, where necessary, 
good, substantial footways above the roaring waters 
so that the visitors can go a considerable distance into 
the cave and follow the course of this peculiar little 
river. The general direction from the entrance trends 
upward something over a thousand feet. The ceiling 
of the cave is sometimes as much as twenty-five or 
thirty feet above your head and the river roars, tum- 
bles and gurgles that far beneath your feet. The ap- 
pearance of the waters at some places is exceedingly 
angry and the roar is so intense that conversation can 
only be carried on in a loud voice. 

There were a number of other visitors in the cave 
at the time we were there, and the passing of them 
on the bridges was sometimes a matter that required 
considerable care and some patience, for if one by any 
chance should fall off the bridge, that raging torrent 
would certainly do the rest. 

The lights are arranged so as to show the beauties 
of the cave. Sometimes a remote light is placed way 
back at the end of a crevice and shines out with a pure 
and fascinating glint. At other times they are placed 
beneath the cascades or in such a direction that the 
waters seem like molten streams of silver or crystal as 
they hurry along; some have green globes and globes of 

182 



OLD CASTLES 

other colors that enhance the peculiar beauty of this 
natural wonder. 

There are some odd formations in the cave which, 
by a little stretch of imagination, can be turned into 
animals and other objects, which lends an added interest 
to a visit. There are some formations of crystals by the 
action of the water, but the cave is not very remarkable 
on this account. Taken altogether, however, the visit is 
very interesting, and we felt well repaid for the time 
we had devoted to it. 

It is peculiar how many natural wonders there are 
throughout the length and breadth of the earth. Every 
country on the globe has something interesting for visit- 
ors from some other part of the world, but Interlaken 
and Switzerland seem to have more than their share. 

OLD CASTLES 

After concluding our visit to the cave, we drove 
through thick woodlands and by a small river, by several 
mountains where many lives had been lost in an at- 
tempt to reach the top, and to the old wooden village of 
Unterseen, this designation having been given to it on 
account of the old style houses which crowd clear into 
the roadway and which are of peculiar construction. 
Then we visited the old ruined castles of Unsprunnen 
and Weissenan, old structures whose lords and ladies 
have been dead many hundreds of years, and green vines 
are now crawling over the crumbling stone walls. Then 
we came by a church with a moss-covered tower on 
which was a clock with a very large face, from which 
rang out a chime of bells, calling our attention to the 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

fact that it was now time to go back to the city where 
cheer and comfort awaited us at a fine hotel. After a 
good dinner we sat out in the garden and wondered 
if the sun the next morning would shine bright on the 
everlasting snowy crystals of the beautiful mountain of 
Jungfrau which had hidden itself from view in the 
mists for two days. 



184 



Chapter XIV 



THE LAUTERBRUNNEN VALLEY 

The second morning in Interlaken was vastly differ- 
ent from the stormy weather of the morning previous. 
The sun shone out brightly, the fogs lifted, the sky 
was a clear blue, and, looking up the Lauterbrunnen 
valley, the saw-toothed edges of the upper rim of the 
Alps stood out in bold relief like great mountains of 
broken ice, reminding one of the pictures of immense 
ice floes of the Arctic regions. Over a dozen great peaks 
stood up high in the sky line as irregular in their shapes 
as could well be imagined. They were all covered with 
ice and snow, and presented a very brilliant but very 
cold appearance. 

The valley of Lauterbrunnen is one-half mile wide 
with immense stone walls, almost vertical, on both sides. 
Looking up this valley, which was as green as the cloth 
of a billiard table, except where the stone walls stood 
out in sombre brown, could be seen one mountain greater 
than all the rest. It was the mountain immortalized in 
history, romance and song as the "Jungfrau." It was 
14,000 feet to the top. On the sides of the other moun- 
tains could be seen several villages, and each one of the 
villages had hotels, besides stores and small houses. 

To stand at Interlaken and look up the valley of 
Lauterbrunnen, to see the stone walls, the green hill- 
sides, the scattered villages, and the great piles of snow 

185 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

and ice beyond, is a scene that photographs itself upon 
one's mind, there to remain indelibly as a beautiful and 
awe-inspiring picture. 

SCALING THE ALPS 

The fact that the ascent of Jungfrau is one of the 
chief objects of a visit to Interlaken and that the moun- 
tain had been hidden behind the fogs or clouds for two 
days, caused a large number of people who had been 
awaiting clear weather to assemble at the station to make 
the ascent the same day that we had selected. 

There are two ways of scaling the Alps. Almost 
everybody has read of the old way, where a group of 
men, armed with ropes, grappling hooks, picks, snow 
shoes, dinner satchels, etc., tie themselves together and 
climb, dig, cut, scramble and sometimes reach a high 
altitude only to be carried down with some immense ava- 
lanche and their bodies be buried in cold storage, never 
to be seen again. That is the old way of scaling the 
Alps. The new way is so much easier, safer, more rapid 
and more pleasant that most people nowadays select this 
way. We preferred the new way. 

Jungfrau means in English young frau, or, more 
properly speaking, young woman. It is so called on 
account of its continually wearing white habiliments 
of snow which are supposed to represent a young lady 
dressed in white. 

In the olden days the ascent of the Jungfrau was 
supposed to be an impossibility and nobody ever ac- 
complished the feat until two brothers made the ascent 
in 1811, nearly thirty years after other parties had 
reached the top of Mt. Blanc, which is still counted a 
great feat, and is the envy of many climbers of the 

186 



HOW THE TRIP IS MADE 

Alps. Since 1811, a number of people have gone to 
the top of the Jungfrau. Some have attempted the 
feat and have had to give it up, while others who have 
attempted it never lived to know whether they gave it 
up or whether they did not. 

While we did not reach absolutely the highest 
point on the Jungfrau, we did reach a very high place 
where we could look out over almost unlimited fields 
of ice, and if we return to Switzerland within a few 
years, we can go to the absolute apex of the mountain 
as easily and safely as we made this trip while here. 

HOW THE TRIP IS MADE 

Leaving Interlaken by train at 9 o'clock in the 
morning, we passed up the valley of Lauterbrunnen, 
going by a rapidly flowing river until we came to the 
town of the same name as the valley. Just at one side 
of the town are the celebrated falls of Staubbach or 
"Dust Brook. " I think the falls or the stream is called 
"Dust Brook" on account of the fact that the water 
leaps from the top of a precipice and has a sheer de- 
scent of a thousand feet to the bottom of the cascade. 
The fall is so great that the water lashes itself to a 
fury and seems more like dust than spray when it 
strikes the bottom. 

Just above these falls is the little town of Murren, 
about thirteen hundred feet above the valley below, 
and which is reached by a cable railway that hauls the 
cars in a roundabout way up to the village. Murren, 
like all other places in the Alps, has its hotels where 
they entertain visitors and have their gay season like 
other resort places. 

When we reached Lauterbrunnen we found a num- 
187 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ber of small engines, each one hitched to a single car 
and ready for the ascent of the mountain. The rail- 
road leading to the mountain was one of those cog 
railways for which the country is noted, and the cars 
were hitched in front of the locomotives, which, by 
their cogs, pushed the cars up the hill ahead of them. 
The road wound backward and forward up Mt. Mann- 
lichen, and as there were several of these engines and 
cars, it seemed like a sort of procession of miniature 
trains as they followed each other up the curves and 
wound backward and forward following the sinuos- 
ities of the track. We finally reached the little town 
of Scheidegg, and were surprised to find a town of 
several hotels and business houses and rather a large 
station building. 

We had now just reached the edge of the snow 
line. We again changed trains here to another set of 
cars somewhat similar to those we had left, but each 
car, instead of being pushed by a steam locomotive, 
was attached to an electric engine which went in the 
rear of the ear, pushing it forward up the mountain. 
As we progressed the snow became more plentiful. 
Still there were great patches from which the snow 
had been removed by the warm sun and winds of sum- 
mer, and flowers and grass had sprung up quite pro- 
fusely, and some very pretty flowers. I noticed in some 
places that the flowers grew within ten or twelve inches 
of solid snow banks. As we proceeded farther up the 
road the banks of snow became higher until we ran 
through cuts which had been made in the drifts where 
the snow was as high on each side of the track as the 
tops of the cars. 

188 



GREAT TUNNELS 

GREAT TUNNELS 

About this time we came to a tunnel three or four 
hundred feet long, and as we emerged from the other 
end of this tunnel we were surrounded by acres and 
acres of ice and snow, more than we had ever seen 
before. A little farther on we entered another tunnel, 
where the incline was considerably more than any 
incline we had yet reached in our upward ascent, and 
this tunnel was continuous as long as our journey 
lasted. Here and there the train would stop and, get- 
ting out of the car, we would find cross-tunnels that 
were cut to the outer surface of the mountain, where 
we could stand in what was apparently a solid frame 
of ice, and as far as the view could reach the only 
variety was the odd shapes and the indescribable im- 
mensity of the great quantities of snow and ice that 
had been piled upon itself year after year, generation 
after generation and century after century. 

I remember one of these tunnels to the outward 
world, where we stood and looked down at least a thou- 
sand feet immediately below us to where we could see 
the first level and then the valley led off thousands of 
feet below that. It would make almost any one tremble 
to think what would become of him if, by one false step, 
he should go down into that bed of ice from whence no 
mortal yet has ever returned alive. "While we were ex- 
amining this odd and inspiring landscape, there was a 
little fall of ice and snow from overhead into the deep 
valley below and a sound as if rolling thunders had 
disturbed the world. I longed and wished that one of 
those great avalanches of this majestic part of the 
world would occur, for we felt perfectly safe standing 

189 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

in our circle of ice, with the solid stone hundreds of feet 
thick above our heads. 

It is hardly necessary to say that at this altitude 
the air was cool and crisp, but there was a powerful spy- 
glass standing here convenient for the use of visitors 
and, turning its objective glass down the valley, we 
could take in a view of about five miles, where, focusing 
it on a village, we could see the houses and trees, and 
the ladies dressed in their summer dresses, carrying red, 
green and white parasols to keep off the hot sun. 

It is the intention to continue this tunneled rail- 
way a little further on, until it will end directly under 
the highest peak of Jungfrau. Then a modern elevator 
will be put in that will carry people five hundred feet 
higher, where they will be at the very apex of this won- 
derful mountain. 

EASY FOR THE TRAVELER 

These Swiss people have lots of enterprise and lots 
of industry, and the idea of blasting and building this 
railway through the solid rock of this great mountain, 
so that it will not be interfered with by the ice and snow, 
is a most wonderful undertaking. The great storms of 
the Alps may fight their fiercest battles on these peaks, 
the great avalanches may come down through the val- 
leys with their thousands of tons of ice and stone, and 
they will no more disturb the running of this railway 
than will the gentlest breeze of a summer day. It is 
dry, warm and comfortable in this tunnel. The cars 
are brilliantly illuminated, are nicely upholstered, and 
you may sit and read a newspaper and be carried to the 
top of the Alps with as much comfort as you could be 
carried to your home in the suburbs of your own home 

190 



AMONG THE CLOUDS 

city on the best trolley system that might be imagined. 

As we were carried higher and higher into the 
heavens, and among the everlasting snow-drifts, and I 
thought how poor Alpine climbers for years have battled 
among these giant glaciers and climbed with imminent 
danger and faltering steps to the altitude that I had 
now reached so rapidly and so pleasantly, I sort of felt 
as though things were coming too easy to me and that 
I should share in some way in the toils and struggles of 
these poor devils who had made this trip long before 
this railway had been constructed, and some of whom 
had attempted it and had never lived to achieve the goal 
of their ambition. I might get out and push the car or 
do something to assert my courage. A person feels sort 
of inconsequential while being carried up by an electric 
current without any exertion on his part over a journey 
which others have accomplished by clear grit, labor and 
toil and without any outside help whatever. It was al- 
together too easy. Mentally I resented it, and there 
occurred to my mind those words of Watts ' hymn which 
are familiar to almost all religious people : 

"Must I be carried to the skies 

On flowery beds of ease, 
While others fought to win the prize 

And sailed through bloody seas?" 

AMONG THE CLOUDS 

I have often looked up at the clouds when they 
seemed to be made of great mountains of snow and 
wished that I could be up among them. I guess most 
of us have felt that desire to cut loose from earth and 
climb among these white gorges of ethereal creation. I 
know of nothing that comes so near fulfilling one's de- 

191 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

sires in this respect as to stand here nearly at the top of 
one of the highest peaks of the Alps and gaze for miles 
and miles, and all about him are the everlasting snows 
that seem almost as light, as fleecy and as fanciful as the 
clouds that sail over the broad prairies of the state of 
Illinois. I cannot describe the beauties of the sur- 
roundings nor the feelings that will naturally possess 
one under such circumstances. There was one sad 
thought, however, and that was the absolute death with 
which we were surrounded. Not a flying bird nor even 
a green twig nor a thing except the people around us 
suggestive of life. Death reigns supreme in the majestic 
Alps. 

Having stood for a considerable time looking out 
over the fields of ice which had been hammered into 
their fantastic shapes by a thousand stormy battles, we 
could figure out some forms and faces in the fanciful 
designs as some people can figure out the man in the 
moon or as you can figure out rocks, animals and birds 
in the clouds, for the shapes of the snow drifts on the 
mountains are just as odd and peculiar as the forma- 
tions of the clouds in the sky. 

DOWN TO EARTH 

"We again seated ourselves in the cars and went as 
far down as the commencement of the first tunnel men- 
tioned before. Here was a little station called Eismeer. 
There was a stone house here in connection with the 
station, in which a most excellent meal was served at 
a moderate price. "We selected a table near the window 
hanging over a deep valley and enjoyed a hearty meal 
while drinking in with our eyes the pure scenes of the 
everlasting snow-clad mountains around us. I noticed 

192 



DOWN TO EARTH 

that the water and milk were exceedingly cool, while 
there was no refrigerator in the room, but looking out 
through the door I saw that an artificial cooler was not 
necessary as the milk, water, etc., were conveniently 
shoved into the sides of a great bank of snow. 

After our dinner was over we returned to Schei- 
degg. Between changes of cars here I noticed Mrs. R. 
treading her way in a somewhat rapid manner through 
passage-ways cut between huge snow drifts. As the 
train was about ready to leave for the downward jour- 
ney, I followed her rapidly in an endeavor to bring her 
back. It appeared, however, there was no stopping her, 
as the reason of her mad rush was the fact that she had 
discovered a store where they sold real hand-made Swiss 
lace and she had already consummated a purchase of a 
fine piece of lace for about three dollars, which certainly 
would have been a bargain at home for $2.98. 

When this business transaction was completed, we 
took a train in a different direction from the one we had 
come and circled the other side of Mt. Mannlichen up 
which we had ascended, and again came down into the 
valley of Lauterbrunnen, passing precipices, falls, 
cataracts and cascades on the way, and finally rolled 
into Interlaken in time for a good hearty supper, and 
we brought with us appetites that would do it justice. 

And this is the new way of scaling the Alps, and, 
while there are still some people who prefer to take the 
chances and put in the exertion and do it in the good old 
way, I think the new style is altogether better, although 
it may lack a little of the excitement and daring usually 
credited to those who scale the Alps. 

193 

—13 



Chapter XV 



CAPITAL OF SWITZERLAND 

The city of Berne is the capital of the Swiss repub- 
lic. It has a population of 65,000 people and is built 
upon the hills of about the crookedest part of the fast- 
flowing river Aare. The inequality of the ground on 
which it is built, the serpentine bends of the river, and 
the probable lack of a preliminary survey have resulted 
in giving it about the crookedest lot of streets that were 
ever huddled together within the boundaries of one city. 
If it was ever laid out by any corps of engineers, they 
must have been badly intoxicated at the time they did 
their work. There is one advantage, however, in the 
city of Berne. You can not get lost in it. No matter 
what direction you start out, all you have to do is to fol- 
low the street and you are certain to turn up pretty 
soon at the exact spot from whence you started. There 
are some broad, handsome streets, but most of them are 
very narrow, and nearly all the business houses project 
over the sidewalks to the outer edge, and the people 
walk up and down the street in the arcades formed by 
the projecting buildings. 

The construction of the houses is the same as would 
be the case if, in an American city, you should extend all 
the upper stories of the business houses and support them 
by heavy columns of stone along the outer edge of the 
sidewalks, allowing the sidewalks to remain where they 

194 



CAPITAL OF SWITZERLAND 

are now with the entrance to the stores the same as now, 
thus forming an arcade or arched covering over the 
sidewalks. While the streets are straight enongh so 
that yon can see any considerable distance nnder the ar- 
cades, it seems as though you were looking through a 
tunnel. 

The residence portion of the city, the best part of 
which lies across the river from the business part and 
on a high hill overlooking a park, is just as irregular in 
its ground level and the direction of the streets as any 
other part of the city, but as there are many fine resi- 
dences with nice yards and surrounded by stone walls, 
overgrown with ivy, and every house sits at a different 
altitude and a different angle and in a different direc- 
tion from every other house, they present a wonderfully 
picturesque appearance. The Cathedral, which is, per- 
haps, the most conspicuous object in the city, overlooks 
a little plaza whose outer edge near the river is sup- 
ported by a stone wall at least fifty feet high and which 
might be mistaken even now for a fortress, for which 
purpose it was formerly used. While most of the town 
is what we would call old in America, that part which 
is pointed out by the residents as the old part of Berne, 
is upon the river front beneath this huge stone wall ad- 
joining the church. Here is as peculiar and quaint a 
set of houses as you can find any place, even in this 
quaint country. They are built in rows, from two to 
four stories high, and ten to twenty feet in width. No 
two of them are alike, and scarcely any one of them is 
the same width its entire length. 

The roofs are all pointed and at such sharp angles 
that if it were necessary to repair the slate with which 

195 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

they are mostly covered, the workman would have to be 
let down on a rope to hang onto his job. There are a 
number of these little, old style houses squeezed in all 
through the business section of the city; some of them 
not even as wide as ten feet in the front. 

ODD CONSTRUCTIONS 

There are other odd things in the city of Berne. 
The city is remarkable for the number of its public 
fountains and the oddity of their construction. These 
fountains were made for the purpose of supplying 
the population of the city and the horses with drinking 
water and were, no doubt, built long before any general 
system of water service was conducted through the 
houses of the town. The architects of these fountains 
had just as queer ideas as the architects of the other old 
edifices of Berne. 

One represents a bear standing erect on a high 
column in full knightly apparel, having a sword hang- 
ing by his side, carrying a huge banner above his hel- 
meted head and guarding a little baby bear between his 
feet. Another represents a big ogre on the top of a 
fluted column with his arms full of small children 
whom he is eating greedily, tearing them limb from limb 
as he does so. The column is also surrounded by other 
children waiting their turn to supply his voracious ap- 
petite. Another represents the omnipresent William 
Tell with his bow and arrow with which he shot the 
famous apple and slew his enemy, Gessler. Another 
fountain represents a bag-piper, evidently playing music 
by water power. Another fountain is called the Moses 
fountain, and represents the gentleman who wrote the 
first five books of the Bible. There are several others. 

196 



ODD CONSTRUCTIONS 

Most of these odd fountains date back to the middle of 
the sixteenth century, so it would appear that the people 
of those days had some ideas of humor which they ap- 
plied to these necessary institutions in their community. 

Besides the fountains there are a number of statues 
scattered about the city, and one striking piece of archi- 
tecture is the great clock tower, which nearly closes up 
the street at one of the principal corners of the city. 
This clock tower was formerly the entrance gate of the 
town and, in its present form, dates from the fifteenth 
century, the clock itself dating back to 1530. I did not 
mean to use the phrase, "a striking piece of archi- 
tecture, ' ' because the clock strikes, but, having used it, I 
might as well work that joke in right here, for, ordi- 
narily, the clock does strike each hour, and, as it does 
so, it performs several functions not usual with ordinary 
clocks. Among other movements there is a procession 
of the twelve apostles that circle or march around to 
the music of the bells each hour. We stood in front of 
this clock when it struck the hour, but it appears that 
at this time the apostles were also on a strike and re- 
fused to work. The face of the clock is very large and 
it is considered quite a wonderful timepiece. 

One of the interesting places in Berne is the Ar- 
mory in the Historical Museum, where there is a display 
of old armor, cannons, bayonets and swords that are 
woven into columns and pictures. 

Another interesting place is the "Old Kornhaus 
Keller," or, in English, corn-house cellar. This is a 
sort of underground roof garden, if such a term might 
be used. It was built away back in the year 1711, 
and is quite a pretentious building which arches over a 

197 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

street, the traffic passing through the opening. The up- 
stairs is used as an art industrial museum, and there is 
a cellar and a deep sub-cellar still below that, composed 
of arches and arcades, which is used for a restaurant 
and a beer hall. The walls are decorated with some re- 
markable wall paintings and there is an enormous cask, 
capable of holding many thousand litres of beer or wine. 
They have music and it is a jolly place when the Swit- 
zers are at their best. 

GOOD PUBLIC WORKS 

There are several fine bridges over the river uniting 
the different parts of the city (one of which dates back 
to the year 1461), and the public buildings, both of the 
city and the republic, are extremely creditable. 

The old town hall was built in the middle ages and 
has two broad stairways leading upon the outside to 
the second story, presenting a very odd appearance in 
its main approach. The state or federal buildings are 
comparatively new structures, and, while not rivaling 
those of the United States at Washington, are ample and 
reflect credit upon the little republic of the Alps. The 
main building, answering to our capitol building in 
Washington, and which is the most modern of all, be- 
ing constructed only a few years ago, is about as large 
as the state house of Illinois, and cost about three mil- 
lion dollars. It appears to represent a good, honest job 
of building and, owing to the rigid economy and hon- 
esty of the Swiss people, is probably as good a house 
as the state of Pennsylvania recently had foisted upon it 
at a cost of about thirteen million dollars. Everything 
about it is plain and substantial and in good taste un- 
less we except a large mural decoration in the way of a 

198 



THE BEARS OF BERNE 

picture of lakes and mountains that covers the whole 
wall behind the speaker's desk in the hall of represen- 
tatives. This scene represents the place where the 
treaty was made that settled the troubles between 
Switzerland and Austria. The criticism is made that 
this picture is in such bright colors and so dazzling 
that it is absolutely unfit to decorate any wall, but the 
answer to this is that it represents only the actual sur- 
roundings in their natural colors. If there is any ob- 
jection to the picture it is that the colors are so true to 
nature, the blue lakes of Switzerland are so blue, the 
green foliage surrounding them so green, the sun's re- 
flection so yellow, and the mountains beyond are por- 
trayed so faithfully and the realism is so intense, that 
the picture may be too bright and not good from an ar- 
tistic standpoint. In other words, the scenery of Switz- 
erland is too bold or too striking for artistic reproduc- 
tion. 

THE BEARS OF BERNE 

Everywhere you go in Switzerland you come up 
abreast and against some kind of a bear, usually a 
wooden one. The bear is the emblem of the town of 
Berne, the capital of the republic, and from it the town 
is supposed to have derived its name. According to an 
old legend, one Duke Berchtold slew a bear on the spot 
where the town was afterwards founded, and, from that 
occurrence, the bear became the emblem of that city. 
The most ancient town signets carry a bear on their 
coat of arms, and in the town of Berne and other parts 
of Switzerland, you find the bear carved in stone, cast 
in bronze, chiseled in wood, formed in gingerbread, 
made into cakes, and in every other form in which you 

199 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

could imagine a bear could be made, even including the 
Teddy bears of the present day. 

It has been the custom ever since the year 1480 to 
keep live bears in Berne and a great bear pit surrounded 
by stone was constructed in the year 1857, in which a 
number of live bears are kept at this time. This bear 
pit is one of the chief attractions of the capital city, and 
all visitors go to see the bears among the first things 
that they do after arriving in town. We went, of 
course, and made our call upon the bears. There were 
several of them and they were as lively as a set of boys 
in a school house yard during the recess hour. 

The bear idea, as exemplified in the city of Berne, 
has spread over the whole republic and every curiosity 
shop is a sort of bear exposition and has bears for sale 
of all sizes from the little fellows small enough to stand 
on a silver dime to great big fellows larger than a man. 

I was much taken with a collection of these bears 
in one of the towns where we stopped. Besides all the 
wooden bears made of black walnut and finished in a 
very artistic manner, were two bears covered with 
shaggy hides of real bear skin that interested me very 
much. One of them was almost as big as a live bear 
and was arranged so as to walk around the room, and 
when he went after anybody he looked so natural and 
life-like, setting down one paw after another and 
swinging his head from side to side as he walked, that 
everybody in his path gave him full sway. There was 
another one that stood up on his hind feet about four 
feet high, covered with as nice a coat of fur as you could 
select out of a thousand skins. Hanging from his neck 
was a nice little snare drum about twelve inches in diame- 

200 



OTHER ANIMALS 

ter and in each fore paw, which he nsed as hands, were 
the sticks that went with the dram. He had bright eyes, 
a red tongue, and a wide smile on his open lips. He was 
contrived so that when yon touched a bntton he would 
put those drum sticks in operation very vigorously and 
skillfully. The way he could beat the long roll on his 
drum would have been the envy of many amateur 
drummers. He was supposed to be for use in some large 
dwelling to call people to their meals. When supper 
was ready all you would have to do would be to press 
the button and the bear would do the rest. 

OTHER ANIMALS 
It seems there are other animals besides bears in 
Switzerland. One evening after dinner in Berne, while 
walking in the flower garden adjoining the hotel, for all 
hotels in this country have gardens, we noticed on the 
second story porch a couple of small monkeys. They 
were unrestrained except by a shield preventing them 
from getting out into the street, and were about as lively 
as monkeys usually are. Having an orange with us, we 
tore -it into sections and, throwing the pieces up to the 
monkeys, they caught them very cleverly and devoured 
them apparently with considerable relish. An English 
lady, who was stopping at the hotel, stepped up to Mrs. 
R. and asked her if the monkeys liked oranges. Mrs. R. 
intimated that they seemed to like them. The woman 
then asked Mrs. R. how she liked monkeys. Mrs. R. 
intimated that she had no particular animosity towards 
them. The English lady then asked her how long she 
had had monkeys, to which Mrs. R. responded that she 
never had monkeys at all. The English lady, somewhat 
embarrassed, said : ' ' Oh, excuse me, I thought that they 

201 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

were your monkeys." "Oh, no," said Mrs. E., "they 
are not mine. I never saw them before," This ended 
the conversation, and we reflected that while we had 
been probably suspected of a good many things while 
on our trip, this was the first time that anybody had 
assumed that we were traveling with monkeys. 

INDUSTRY AND INGENUITY 

These Swiss people are great carvers of wood. It 
will be remembered they are the people who make a 
good many of the cuckoo clocks that are found in all 
parts of the world, and which, besides possessing all 
the intricate machinery that tells the time of day and 
announces the time each hour by little birds that flap 
their wings and say ' ' cuckoo, ' ' are wonderful specimens 
of wood carving. 

The people of Switzerland are very ingenious, too, 
and, in addition to making the cuckoo clocks, they turn 
out a great number of watches, and, up to a few years 
ago, when America came to the front in the manufac- 
ture of watches by machinery, Switzerland led the world 
in the making of time pieces. One of the peculiarities, 
however, of the watch business in Switzerlannd, is the 
fact that Geneva watches are not made in Geneva. 

Another peculiar thing about Switzerland is that 
while Switzer cheese is known in all English-speaking 
countries, when you call for Switzer cheese in this 
country they don't know what you are talking about, 
for all cheese here is Switzer cheese, no matter by what 
other name it may be known. 

One of the principal places in Switzerland is Neu- 
chatel, from whence originates the name of Neuchatel 
cheese, which is almost as popular in America as Switzer 

202 



DOGS AND WOMEN WORK 

cheese. It is hardly necessary, however, to say that 
in America we try to digest a large amount of Switzer 
and Neuchatel cheese, which never came from the 
places after which they are named. 

EVEN DOGS AND WOMEN WORK. 

Switzerland is a country where dogs and women 
work, as well as men. In fact, I think the dogs and 
women have the hardest part of the proposition, for 
while the men wait on the tables in the hotels, play in 
the orchestra, serve in the army and bask in the brilliant 
uniforms of policemen and guards, the dogs haul the 
carts and the milk wagons and the women work in the 
fields, sweep the streets, saw wood and carry loads up 
stairs. 

While we were standing in the front door of the 
hotel a group of old ladies swept the entire block in 
front of the premises. They had brooms made of a 
brush with very small limbs or fibres and they worked, 
I think, more industriously than most men street- 
sweepers that I have seen, and, I believe, did a better 
job than most men do in sweeping the streets. 

Not far from the hotel was a group of men and 
women sawing wood, which two young women were 
carrying up several flights of stairs. They had a sort 
of basket made of strips of wood nearly as large as a 
good sized laundry basket, which they would fill to the 
top and running over, and then, strapping it on their 
backs, would walk off upstairs with it. They were girls 
of ordinary size and the loads which they carried were 
as large as would be expected to be borne by a good- 
sized man. 

All the railroads in Switzerland are owned by the 
203 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

government and they have some methods which are dif- 
ferent from anything we have in this country. They 
sell a number of different sorts of tickets. For about 
fifteen dollars you can buy a ticket that is good for ten 
days' travel and on any train. You may travel contin- 
uously every hour of the day if you so desire. When a 
person has such a ticket, however, in order to get as 
much as he can for his money, he is liable to travel so 
fast that he is not able to see anything as he goes along, 
for every time that he stops he is out just that many 
miles of travel; but it makes, for the ordinary person, 
very cheap car fare. 

THE REPUBLIC OF SWITZERLAND 

Switzerland has a total area of 16,000 square miles, 
which is a little less than one-third the size of 
the state of Illinois. It is divided into twenty-two can- 
tons which, though much smaller, answer somewhat, in 
their relation, to the various states in our union. The 
total population of the republic is a little over 3,000,000. 

Considering the fact that there is hardly a square 
mile of level ground in the whole republic, that it is al- 
most all mountainous, that a large part of the limited 
area is solid stone, and as devoid of vegetation as a 
paving brick, and that another large portion of it is 
inaccessible on account of its altitude, or the fact that 
the surface of the ground stands on edge, and that a 
good deal more of it is eternally hidden beneath moun- 
tains of ice and snow, the position which Switzerland 
occupies in the world, and its development, is truly re- 
markable. Its people are industrious and their valor 
and bravery have never been questioned. In hotels it 
practically leads the world. Its attractions are so won- 

204 



THE GOVERNMENT 

derful that they induce a large number of visitors year 
after year and Switzerland has almost become a nation 
of hotel keepers. They not only have hotels in every ac- 
cessible location in their native country, on the lakes, in 
the towns, in the valleys, and on the mountains, but 
they own and manage many hotels in Italy, France, Ger- 
many and other countries in Europe. 

The important cities of Switzerland are Zurich 
with a population of 150,000; Basel, 112,000; Geneva, 
104,000; Berne, 64,000 and a number of cities of lesser 
size. 

THE GOVERNMENT 

The national government is carried on by a council 
of seven ministers. The highest salary, as I remember it, 
that any government officer receives, is $3,000.00 per 
year. Of the seven ministers, one of them is elected 
chairman for one year at a time, at intervals of not less 
than seven years, and he is called the president of the 
republic. The American ambassador offered to arrange 
an interview with the president for my benefit, but I 
could not stay over another day, which would have been 
necessary in order to meet him. These seven ministers 
are elected by the representatives of the cantons, who 
meet in congress the same as the members of our con- 
gress at Washington or members of the legislature in any 
state capital. I regretted that the congress was not in 
session at the time we were in Berne, for it is said that 
it is a very interesting body. 

The chief language of Switzerland is German, or 
rather a Swiss-German, although it is not compulsory, 
and nearly all the schools teach German and one other 
language. While in some of the cantons German and 

205 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

English are spoken, it appears that those cantons adjoin- 
ing Italy use Italian and those adjoining France use 
French, so that four languages have their representa- 
tion and quite a number of people speak all four lan- 
guages more or less fluently, and the more intelligent 
people of the country understand all of them, even if 
they can not speak them all well. 

It frequently occurs that some of the members in 
the congressional body can speak some other language 
better than they can German, so that while one member 
will make a speech in German, another member will 
answer him in Italian, while a third member may take 
a part in the discussion in French, each man choosing 
the particular vehicle in the way of language which he 
can handle best. 

HISTORY AND CIRCUMSTANCE 

Switzerland is almost completely surrounded by 
high mountain chains which make it nearly impregnable 
to foreign attack. It has had some great wars, but, 
owing to its strong natural position and the undaunted 
bravery of its sons, it has been many years since it was 
overcome by any other nation. It is connected now 
with the outer world by three great tunnels, two of them 
leading through the Alps to Italy and one leading 
through the mountains to Germany. 

Switzerland was under the domain of the Romans 
in the palmy days of the empire. In the fifth century 
it came under the rule of the French and finally under 
the rule of the Teutons. In 1798 the republic was es- 
tablished under the influence of France. "With the wan- 
ing of Napoleon's power the republic was in danger. 
Austrian and Russian troops crossed the frontier and 

206 



ITS FOUR GREAT RIVERS 

took the affairs of the cantons in hand, but in 1815, 
Austria, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia and Russia in 
a congress at Vienna called off the dogs of war and 
guaranteed perpetual neutrality with Switzerland. 
Since then the little republic has been master of itself 
and has rested as a shining light of free popular gov- 
ernments surrounded on all sides by kingdoms, monarch- 
ies and empires. 

Following the Franco-Prusian war in 1871, France 
became a republic and Switzerland has had that much 
to support it in the fight that it is making for universal 
liberty and popular self-government. 

ITS FOUR GREAT RIVERS 

As small as Switzerland is it has within its bound- 
aries the sources of four of the greatest rivers of 
Europe; the Rhine, which is formed by the confluence 
of the Boden and Heinton-Rhein ; the Rhone, and the 
tributaries of the Po, and the waters that unite and 
make up the Danube. 

The river Rhine flows northward and, tumbling 
over the great falls of Shauffhausen, goes on its rapid 
way through Germany to the North sea, while the Dan- 
ube leads eastward through Germany, Austro-Hungary, 
Roumania and Bulgaria and empties into the Black sea 
away over near Constantinople. The river Rhone flows 
westward and becomes one of the greatest rivers of 
France, and empties, after traversing a considerable dis- 
tance through the latter republic, into the Mediterra- 
nean sea. The river Po flows southward, becomes the 
greatest river of Italy, and empties into the Adriatic 
sea south of the city of Venice. So that the clear waters 
of Switzerland find their way to the north, east, south 

207 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

and west and empty into four great seas remote from 
each other, just as the economic and patriotic example 
of Switzerland's popular government has a far reaching 
influence. 

Switzerland has cause for being proud of the 
unique position it has maintained among the govern- 
ments of nations. Its affairs are managed with 
honesty and economy. Being confronted by the prob- 
lem of scanty soil, precipitous mountains and many nat- 
ural obstacles, its people have utilized their opportuni- 
ties to the fullest extent, and have become a hardy, fear- 
less, industrious and liberty-loving people, who maintain 
themselves with honor and credit and are able to say to 
the rest of the world, "You must keep your hands off 
of us." 



208 




STRASSBURG. 

"The dress of the girls is particularly interesting to the ladies of 
America." — Page 218. 



Chapter XVI 



THE DANCE OF DEATH 

Taking a train at Interlaken we started north, 
stopping a little while at the large city of Basel. We 
had time for only a hurried glimpse at the new railway 
station which they are just completing at this point, and 
at the parks and avenues leading away therefrom. We 
would have liked to stop here long enough to see the 
great fresco of the "Dance of Death" in the Cathedral 
at this place. This was painted in the fifteenth century. 

In the old days they used to enact a drama called 
the "Dance of Death," which illustrated the uncertainty 
of life and the conquest of death over all. Death was 
represented as a skeleton clothed in a loose-fitting gown 
and the quickness of his motions, and the apparent 
pleasure with which he came and carried off his victims 
from all ranks, was supposed to give him the appear- 
ance of dancing away with them, and hence the drama 
was called the "Dance of Death." 

This great mural decoration at Basel is based on 
that drama and is a series of pictures in which death 
makes its unwelcome call upon the members of all 
classes, and invites them to accompany him in such a 
persuasive manner that they cannot refuse. This picture 
represents death calling respectively upon the king, the 
queen, the professional man, the musician, the man of 
wealth and the lowliest peasant. No one escapes his 

209 

—14 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

call. There is the artist, the priest, the workingman, 
the wife, the mother, the father, the daughter and the 
son, and so on all through the various grades and ages 
of mankind. 

We seriously regretted losing the opportunity of 
seeing this picture, but copies of it are portrayed 011 
postal cards, of which we brought several away with us. 

INVADING GERMANY 

Not long after we had left Basel, a tall man in uni 
form, wearing a fiery red cap, and having his breast 
ornamented with several badges and crosses hanging 
from ribbons, with florid complexion, snow white hair, 
and a white moustache, came into the apartment which 
we were occupying in the car. He pointed to our heavy 
pieces of baggage resting on the upper shelf, looked us 
square in the eyes and gave us a nod. I was somewhat 
overcome with the magnificence of the man's dress and 
his height and military bearing. But as all the railroads 
in this country belong to the government, and all the 
trainmen are dressed in uniforms and look like soldiers, 
I supposed that he was one of the numerous railway 
employes. 

As he pointed at my suit case, I said. "Yes, that's 
my baggage. ' ' Then he pointed at the other case which 
we carried, and I said, "Yes, that is mine, too," but that 
did not appear to pacify him, and there was a sort of 
awkward pause while he waited for me to do something, 
and I waited for him to demonstrate what was necessary 
to be done. As there was no headway being made ex- 
cept by the train, after a moment, our visitor said in 
a somewhat stern manner, "I am der gusdom haus and 
makes examinations." This brought me to an under- 

210 



ALSACE-LORRAINE 

standing of the situation. I knew then that we had 
passed over the line and were within the boundaries of 
the German empire. I took down my baggage, un- 
strapped it, and, after a perfunctory examination, the 
officer placed the custom house labels upon the various 
pieces, and, in a dignified manner, bowed himself out 
and went on his way. 

ALSACE-LORRAINE 

We soon came to Strassburg, the capital of Alsace- 
Lorraine. Alsace-Lorraine is that little piece of terri- 
tory lying between France and Germany which has been 
the bone of contention and the cause of war between 
these two nations on one or more occasions. It belonged 
to Austria or was independent until the year 1681, 
when Louis XIY. captured it and attached it to France. 
The Teutons never forgave France for this, and the 
Germans long waited an opportunity to grab the Alsace- 
Lorraine country from France. This was no light un- 
dertaking and it required one hundred and ninety years 
for Germany to bring about its culmination. 

All that time the German states were figuring on 
the recovery of this lost territory and every move during 
that one hundred and ninety years was made with the 
intention of finally retaking that which had been lost to 
the ,German interests and taken over by the French. 

In the year 1870 Germany concluded that the time 
had arrived when it could and should assert its right or 
at least its might in the Alsace-Lorraine territory, and 
King William I. began to mobilize his army upon the 
French frontier to such an alarming extent that Napo- 
leon III. began to take notice of it and in order to allay 
a revolution at home he declared war against Germany. 

211 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Germany had raised probably the greatest army 
ever organized in the world's history, under those skill- 
ful soldiers and statesmen, Emperor William, Bismarck, 
Von Moltke, the crown prince and other great generals 
who composed a remarkably brilliant galaxy of the 
world's famous military leaders. 

France having declared war, the whole German 
army, which was ready and waiting, was put in motion 
in an instant as the machinery of some immense world's 
fair is started all at once by the pressing of an electric 
button. 

There was war all along the line. There were bat- 
tles at Strassburg, at Sedan and several other places in 
rapid succession. Germany had a million men in the 
field and, within a few months, the Prussian troops had 
battered down every defense of France and had sur- 
rounded Paris, which they soon starved into an uncon- 
ditional surrender. Even before reaching Paris the 
German army had captured over 400,000 prisoners, in- 
cluding Emperor Napoleon himself. 

It is not our purpose here to review the whole his- 
tory of the Franco-Prussian war. France suffered the 
most thorough defeat that any great nation has ever met 
with, and Germany demanded a billion dollars indem- 
nity and the surrender of the Alsace-Lorraine country, 
which it then attached to itself. This was the largest in- 
demnity ever paid by one nation to another in the his- 
tory of modern warfare, and it was the last really great 
war that this world has suffered. The victory of Ger- 
many was complete; the defeat of France was over- 
whelming. The monarchy crumbled. Napoleon III. 
was driven from the throne, and France became a re- 
public. 

212 



STRASSBURG 

It might have been better for the empire of Ger- 
many if the victory had not been so thorough as it was, 
for, in crushing the monarchy of France, it established 
a republic which, by economical methods, soon paid off 
the war indemnity and left France more prosperous 
than it had ever been before. 

GERMANY TO BE A REPUBLIC 

The mills of the gods grind slowly and when Ger- 
many destroyed the monarchy of France and allowed a 
republic to be built upon the ruins of its former self, it 
induced a system of government that will stand out as 
a shining example until its influence will reach over the 
boundary line dividing Germany and France and will 
make of Germany a greater republic than France is to- 
day. It may take some time to bring this about. It took 
one hundred and ninety years of intrigue and war for 
Germany to regain the Alsace-Lorraine country and 
crush the monarchy of France, and, in a less time than 
that will the example of France, by its peace and pros- 
perity, make a republic of Germany. The handwriting 
is on the wall and the time is sure to come. 

But we appear to be wandering from our point of 
discussion, as these letters are supposed to cover only 
what we saw on our short trip in Europe. 

STRASSBURG 

Strassburg is a city of a little over 150,000 popula- 
tion. Many of the streets are narrow, very crooked, 
with limited sidewalks and old-style buildings. It is an 
old-style sort of town and appears to be calculated more 
for the purposes of war than for the vocations of peace. 
Some ten thousand soldiers are kept under arms here all 

213 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the time by the German nation, and the town is very 
strongly fortified. The old city is surrounded by walls. 
In addition to this, there is a new line of fortifications 
farther out, embracing fourteen large forts. There is 
space between these forts and the city walls for a whole 
army to encamp. There is an arrangement of moats 
connected with canals and rivers so that the city can at 
any time be flooded and surrounded by deep waters, 
as they used to surround castles in the days antedating 
modern methods of war. There are barracks in every 
direction, cannons on every elevation, guards at all city 
gates, and, when you arrive in Strassburg, if you did 
not know that there was peace, you might suppose that 
there was a great war in operation and that Strassburg 
was a military center, for the military appears to pre- 
dominate everywhere. 

GERMANY'S GREAT ARMY 

Strassburg is not the only place, however, where 
soldiers can be found in Germany. The military organ- 
ization of Germany is one of gigantic proportions, and 
is stronger than that maintained by any other nation on 
the face of the globe. 

Ever since the Franco-Prussion war, Germany has 
been strengthening its army and navy with redoubled 
vigor, and none of the other countries have been able to 
keep pace with it. Every able-bodied citizen has to 
serve at least three years in the regular army, and some 
of them serve much longer than that. 

Germany has a standing army of about two and a 
half million men. The reserves, which can be called at 
any time, would swell the army three million more, mak- 
ing between five and six million available fighting men 

214 



GERMANY'S GREAT ARMY 

on land which can be mobilized at any time, besides the 
navy on the seas. 

Considering that the whole area of Germany is only 
208,830 square miles, which is less than three and one- 
half times the size of Illinois, and considerably less 
than the single state of Texas, it gives a pretty thick 
sprinkling of soldiers. 

It is a great burden on the people of Germany to 
support this vast army and that is one reason why a 
large number of Germans leave the fatherland and 
come to America to live. This large number of non- 
producing men, who are supported by the people who 
work and pay the taxes, makes existence in Germany 
just that much harder for those who do the work. The 
large number of men who are in the army being with- 
drawn from the ordinary avocations of life, makes it 
necessary for women to do much of the work in Ger- 
many that otherwise would be done by men. A great 
part of the field work is done by the women, and it is 
no unusual sight to see women in the fields, hard at work 
with a rake, hoe or spade, with young children in baby 
carts to be attended to and taken care of during the day. 
Women are also largely employed in stores and small 
shops. 

It is rather repulsive to an American to see women 
labor at such heavy work as they are expected to do in 
these foreign countries. I did not see it, but I am told 
that it is very common for women to carry hods of mor- 
tar and brick in the construction of new buildings. 

However, it may be that women work harder at play- 
ing bridge in America than even these women do in 
carrying hods in Germany, for I am under the impres- 

215 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

sion that some of our women in America work very 
hard on the game of bridge and other social pastimes. 

Sunday is a sort of off day for the soldiers, and, 
there being a general suspension of business, the sol- 
diers and the girls appear to have possession of the city 
on that day, and the streets are full of the boys escort- 
ing young ladies. On Sunday nights the beer gardens 
are all open. A good many of them have music and 
many soldiers and other people, men and women, meet 
therein, and, between drinks, make the night ring with 
the songs of old Germany. 

The people of Strassburg, and of the Alsace-Lor- 
raine country, are not all Germans and many of them 
think more of France even at the present time than they 
do of Germany. For this reason and the probable fear 
that France may at any time overrun and try to retake 
the old territory, Germany thinks it necessary to main- 
tain a considerable army in this locality, which accounts 
for Strassburg being so prominent as a military head- 
quarters. 

QUAINT OLD STRASSBURG 

Strassburg is situated on a small river called the 
111, not far distant from the rivers Rhine and Ehone. 
Between these various rivers is a system of canals which 
float good sized boats, so that the ground around Strass- 
burg being cut deep with canals and piled up with 
fortifications, requires a number of bridges that are well 
built and of ample proportions. 

The quaintness of some of the buildings in Strass- 
burg makes them quite fascinating. A number of these 
houses face on the river which passes through the city. 
Some of them were evidently framed up first and then 

216 



QUAINT OLD STRASSBURG 

the brick walls laid in betwen the timbers and braces, 
somewhat in the manner that we construct club houses 
or fashionable country residences in America, in what 
is sometimes called the ' ' Queen Anne ' ' style. Nearly all 
of the houses have the walls plastered on the outside 
and some of the beams or braces showing through the 
plaster, as described in this paragraph. 

A great many of the houses are built with the point 
of the roof toward the street and a wall coming to a 
point by a succession of steps from the eave line to the 
apex of the roof. Some of them show great age, but that 
they were evidently well constructed at the time they 
were put up. 

Along the river are some houses built in the stream 
where large numbers of women of the city do laundry 
work. They are fitted up with permanent wash tubs or 
troughs and women come from every quarter, bring 
their washing with them, and have apparently free ac- 
cess to the facilities offered. 

When we speak of narrow and crooked streets in 
connection with these foreign cities, we do not know 
whether people who have grown up in the western 
states, where our towns are laid out almost as squarely 
and precisely as checkerboards, know just how irregular 
the street geography of one of these cities like Strass- 
burg actually is. There are a number of streets in 
Strassburg not more than ten or twelve feet wide, and 
so crooked that you cannot see more than a block in one 
direction. In the center of the city it is not likely that 
there are two blocks of the same size or the same shape, 
but every here and there there are open spaces or plazas. 

Our room at the hotel in Strassburg opened out on 
217 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

a plaza of irregular shape about half as large as an or- 
dinary city block. Near the center of this square is a 
large fountain, and it is surrounded by grass and shade 
trees. On one side of this plaza is the hotel; on two 
sides are a number of stores, and on the other side 
the whole space is occupied by a military garrison or 
barracks. 

The houses on the square are, most of them, four 
or five stories high and several of the buildings are quite 
narrow. One or two are as narrow as ten feet or less, 
while being four stories high. These sights become quite 
commonplace after you have traveled in Europe for a 
while, but they strike you as being very odd at first. 

Strassburg is noted for its breweries and for several 
manufacturing specialties, and its pate de foi gras has 
a wide reputation. Even the encyclopedias say that 
Strassburg is noted for its goose-liver pie. The city is 
also noted for its storks, which build their nests on the 
tops of unused chimneys and are as tame as pigeons in 
other places. 

There are a number of things about Strassburg that 
are peculiar to this locality. The dress of the girls is 
particularly interesting to the ladies of America who 
happen to visit here. On Sunday, when at their best, the 
peasant girls wear white aprons with velvet girdles, 
white waists and a headdress of an immense Alsatian 
bow of black ribbon. The ribbons are eight or nine 
inches wide and two huge loops stand up, one on each 
side of their heads, and they have long ends hanging 
down their backs. They present a very striking appear- 
ance, and some of the young ladies look remarkably 
handsome in such a dress. 

218 



THE OLD CATHEDRAL 

THE OLD CATHEDRAL 

The Kaiser's palace is one of the principal points 
of interest in Strassburg, and so, also, is the very beau- 
tiful park. But the greatest thing in Strassburg, as 
in most of these old towns, is the immense Cathedral 
with its tower and clock. 

The Cathedral was first erected in the year 510, but 
was destroyed by lightning in 1007. The foundation of 
the present structure was laid in the year 1015; the 
tower was commenced in the year 1277, and was finished 
in 1439. How such a frail looking structure could with- 
stand the wear and tear of time for so many years, is in- 
comprehensible to me. It is so light and airy and its 
work is so ornamental that you can look through the va- 
rious openings and it seems so like a fairy palace one 
might think that it would not stand the ordinary storms 
of a few years, let alone the several hundred years since 
its erection. The spire is 465 feet high, and from its 
top can be had a view, reaching to the Jura mountains 
in Switzerland. It has some of the most remarkable 
colored glass windows in existence, some of them dating 
back even to the twelfth century. One magnificent 
specimen of these windows is what is called a rose win- 
dow, being somewhat in the shape of a rose and carrying 
pictures made of all colors of glass. This rose window is 
forty-five feet in diameter and of incalculable value. 
In one side of this magnificent structure are those beau- 
tiful windows ; in the other side there is nothing but 
plain glass. The windows in that side were all de- 
stroyed durng the bombardment of the city by the Ger- 
mans in the year 1870. 



219 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

THE GREAT STRASSBURG CLOCK 

Almost everyone has heard of the great Strassburg 
clock. It is located in this Cathedral. It dates back to 
the sixteenth century, having been commenced in 1547 
and finished abont forty years later. It is forty feet high, 
the main clock standing in the center; on one side is a 
spiral stairway leading to a pulpit, which is part of the 
structure, and is nearly as high as the clock, on the other 
side is the case carrying the weights by which the clock 
is operated. 

It is a wonderful piece of mechanism. At every 
hour the clock performs some function in addition to 
simply telling the time. At the quarter hour an angel 
strikes a bell, indicating whether it is the first, second, 
third or fourth quarter. On the even hour, death, in 
the shape of a skeleton with a cross-bone in its right 
hand, strikes the time of the hour on a larger bell. At 
12 o'clock mid-day, all the apostles pass in . procession 
before the Savior and around the face of the clock. In 
addition to this, the clock shows the rising and setting 
of the sun, the position of the moon and the stars, the 
signs of the zodiac and the relation each planet in our 
system bears to the central orb. Some of the planets, 
like Jupiter, for instance, take twelve years to make the 
circuit. Thousands of people go to see this clock every 
year, and it is well worth a visit at any time. It is the 
greatest clock that has ever been built. 

This is the second clock that has stood in this Strass- 
burg Cathedral. A story or legend is handed down in 
relation to the first clock, which is somewhat pathetic. 
It is said that the man who built it, when it was com- 
pleted, was brought before a commission which had 

220 



GREAT STRASSBURG CLOCK 

charge of affairs, and, for fear he might build another 
clock that would be a rival to this one, he was con- 
demned to blindness, and, by order of the commission, 
his eye sight was destroyed, his eyes being punched out. 

"Whether this story is true or not, I am unable to 
say, but it appears that even the blind man had his own 
measure of revenge, for the story continues that after 
his eye sight had been destroyed, he told the persons 
who had charge of the clock that there was one little 
matter in relation to the clock that needed adjustment, 
and that he was the only man who could attend to it 
properly, and that he could do it even in his blindness. 
Being brought to the clock he went to work at it, and, 
by a little movement which was unobserved, made some 
change which effectually stopped the clock and nobody 
else could ever put it in motion again, so that it became 
necessary to remove the old clock, and this clock, which 
is now called the new clock, was built in its place. 

This clock is no clap-trap affair. It is a magnificent 
specimen of architecture, and, if it were made in the 
best shop in America, or any other country, at the pres- 
ent time, it could be no better made than this clock is 
apparently constructed. 

There is another old church in Strassburg, called 
the Church of St. Thomas, which contains a magnificent 
statue of Marshal Saxe. And these embrace all the things 
we saw in Strassburg which were worthy of note, al- 
though in a longer stay we might have found many 
other things of interest. 



221 



Chapter XVII 



OLD HEIDELBERG 

Did you ever hear of Heidelberg and its famous old 
castle? Almost everybody has, and, if you have not, I 
will tell you what I can about it. 

We were anxious to visit one of these famous old 
castles which were constructed away back in the middle 
ages, and have withstood in some degree the ravages of 
war and time since then. The grandest of all these old 
ruins in Germany is the castle of Heidelberg at the city 
of the same name, so we concluded to make a visit to 
this old and interesting place. 

Heidelberg is not a very large city, having a popu- 
lation of something over 35,000 people. As its history 
dates from the year 1196 and it is supposed the town 
was settled before that, its growth has not been very 
rapid and it could hardly be classed as a boom town, 
at the present time. 

It has had about all the experiences that could come 
to a town, even with so long a history. It appears to 
have been the center of a kingdom at a remote period 
and to have waged war against both its friends and 
enemies and to have been victorious or unsuccessful on 
a score or more of occasions. It has been captured and 
recaptured by most of the nations of the earth, even in- 
cluding the Swedes, and appears to have been visited 
with the special animosity of the French. 

222 



THE UNIVERSITY 

It lies along the river Neckar, the most of it being 
on the south side of the river. Both sides of the river 
here are banked with high hills. The Neckar is one of 
the principal feeders of the river Rhine with which it 
unites a few miles west of Heidelberg. As the hills or 
mountains rise very abruptly near the river on each 
side, the town skirts close to the river and is very long 
and thin on that account. The high hills, which might 
be called mountains, present beautiful scenery and mag- 
nificent views in every direction. 

The river Neckar is crossed by two bridges, one of 
them having been built in the olden time, while the other, 
which was built within the last half century, is called 
the new bridge. They are beautiful structures and are 
ornamented with statues. 

In the construction of bridges and other public 
works in these old countries, much more attention is 
paid to the beautiful and picturesque than is accorded 
them in the United States, so that most bridges, besides 
being works of utility, are works of art and ornament 
as well. 

THE UNIVERSITY 

The life of Heidelberg centers around the great 
university which was established here in the year 1386, 
and is a prosperous institution at the present time. It 
has an attendance of about fifteen hundred students and 
a library with three hundred and fifty thousand 
volumes. 

The students who attend this university are 
gathered from all parts of the world and are an odd 
and reckless set of fellows, and the pranks and devil- 
try which they concoct and carry on in and about the 

223 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

old city of Heidelberg calls for genius that is worthy of 
more serious matters. 

One of the traditions of Heidelberg is that every 
student must fight a duel. This is a sort of hazing 
which is accorded the new members of the classes as 
other indignities are heaped upon students at almost 
every college in the world. No student is supposed to 
be a first-class, up-to-date gentleman here unless he has 
a big scar across his cheek as the result of a duel. 

These duels are brought about between the younger 
men by concocted schemes of the older students who in- 
duce one of the younger classes in some manner to in- 
sult or heap some indignity upon some other young 
member which can only be expatiated by a challenge 
and a duel. The challenge having been issued, the neces- 
sary friends voluntering their assistance, a room is 
cleared and the two antagonists are dressed for the fray. 
The duel is always with swords. Each antagonist has 
the right arm wrapped from the hand to the shoulder 
to prevent injury to that member, and, under a regular 
code, they go at each other, rattling their blades together, 
cutting and slashing the air and slapping their forward 
foot on the floor like the star and his first assistant in 
a theatrical tragedy, until one, with a quick movement, 
slashes his antagonist across the cheek. Blood having 
been shed, the amend honorable has been concluded, and 
two more heroes are elevated to the platform of fame. 

The student who is slashed exhibits his cut, which 
he is proud of, to all his friends, and from that time 
carries with him a scar on his cheek which is only effaced 
by the worms that gnaw his flesh from his bones in the 
grave. 

224 



DOUBLE-HEADED CHURCH 

Ordinarily, there is not any serions damage result- 
ing from these duels, but it is a devilish practice and 
has existed for many years, and is liable to continue 
notwithstanding the authorities of the university claim 
they have tried to break it. 

It is no uncommon sight, therefore, to meet young 
men on the streets of Heidelberg, or, in fact, any other 
place in Germany (for this practice is not entirely con- 
fined to Heidelberg), with big scars across their faces. 
These scars and some of the odd caps which the students 
wear, make them very conspicuous in Heidelberg and 
it does not take many hours here to know that you are 
in a university town. 

They have in connection with the university a 
students' prison, where the young men are incarcerated 
for misdemeanors from time to time. Some of these 
students are great artists and the walls of the prison 
attest their remarkable handiwork in the matter of por- 
traits, caricatures, etc. It is an odd dungeon and is 
frescoed with odd pictures. 

A DOUBLE-HEADED CHURCH 

One of the peculiar things about Heidelberg is a 
large church or Cathedral. Ordinarily this is not con- 
sidered odd in any of these cities of the old world, but 
this one is a little different in one particular from al- 
most any other that came within our notice. 

It is the " Heiliggeistkirche, " meaning the Church 
of the Holy Ghost. It was founded in the year 1400, 
and is half Protestant and half Catholic. In the six- 
teenth century, when Luther was tearing up the earth 
and operating the reformation, he visited Heidelberg 
and had a very strong following here, and this church 

225 

—15 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

became divided against itself and appears to be, even 
at the present time, an exception to the proposition that 
a house divided against itself cannot stand. For it has 
stood since the year 1400 and is still standing in a very 
substantial condition. 

The church was for a long while the object of bitter 
strife, and, in the year 1705, it was divided into two 
parts by a wall, that part of the church called the choir 
being assigned to the Catholics, and that part called the 
rave being given to the Protestants. Once the Catholics 
tore the wall out and took possession of the whole 
church, but were overruled by the diet and the partition 
wall was again restored. Then the Catholics pulled out 
and the Protestants had it all to themselves. Then they 
got together again and each denomination took its share. 
Id 1886 the wall was again pulled down in order to get 
a large hall for the festivities for the jubilee of the uni- 
versity, but the wall was rebuilt in the year 1893, and, 
as far as I was able to learn, peace reigns under the roof 
of the Church of the Holy Ghost in Heidelberg at this 
time, and the devotees of the two forms of religion are 
worshiping under the same roof with only a wall divid- 
ing them. 

THE OLD CASTLE 

For so small a town Heidelberg possesses a large 
number of public buildings, but there is nothing here 
now and, perhaps, never will be anything that will com- 
pare with the grand old castle which makes Heidelberg 
celebrated throughout the civilized world. 

This old structure, of which much still remains as 
it originally appeared, stands on a hill about three hun- 
dred feet above the river. It can be seen for a long dis- 

226 



THE OLD CASTLE 

tance from almost any direction and presents a magnifi- 
cent effect. It is surrounded by a wooded park and is 
approached by several roads and footways. In its palmy 
days it must have been a grand edifice, for even now its 
towers, its battlements, its angles, curves and many 
styles of architecture bespeak the glory of its past. 

The oldest part of it was built in the thirteenth 
century, but it was added to and rebuilt for several hun- 
dred years following that time. It also suffered from 
wars and fires, was deserted, overrun, pillaged, bom- 
barded and blasted, restored and rebuilt time and again. 
In its best days it was built so that the king could retire 
within its walls, lift up the drawbridge, flood the moat 
by which it was surrounded, and, with its well-stocked 
stores, could laugh a siege to scorn. In the thirty years' 
war the castle suffered much abuse and was made abso- 
lutely uninhabitable. One Carl Ludwig at that time 
completely restored and fortified it, but the French, 
during the Orleans war in 1689 to '93, destroyed much 
of the castle by blowing up and pulling down the best 
part of it. It was again entirely restored in 1764, but 
in that year was struck by lightning and the whole in- 
terior was burned out. Since that time, only a portion 
of it has been restored, but since 1830, the greatest 
care has been taken to protect the ruins from further de- 
cay, and it is now in the hands of a wealthy man who 
has it well guarded, has a number of competent guides 
to show people around, and charges an admission fee 
which keeps the place in excellent order. Concerts are 
given daily in a beautiful grove inside the grounds. 

We visited the old castle but I cannot begin to de- 
scribe all its wonders and all its old-time beauties. We 

227 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

went hurriedly through the grounds, entered through 
the old portcullis with its drawbridge, and went through 
seme of the old towers, examined the dungeons, went 
down into the old wine cellar, listened to the music of 
the band, and enjoyed the beautiful views up and down 
the river. 

The structure is composed of a brown sandstone, 
nearly terra cotta in color. Many parts of the building 
are ornamented with bas-reliefs and statues; some of 
angels, some of men and others of women. In one sec- 
tion, overlooking the court, is a very ornamental part 
with statues in the panels between all the windows and 
larger statues on the cornice above, but there are so 
many statues and figures that even a mention of all of 
them would be uninteresting. 

They must have done good work on this building 
for one of the towers which was blown up by the French 
and thrown clear off its base, down into the moat, re- 
mains to-day, after nearly one hundred and fifty years, 
in perfect shape, the stones being held together by the 
mortar between them, instead of crumbling into the sepa- 
rate stones of which it was built. 

In connection with the castle is an old chapel for 
worship, and in the yard is a very large well which, in 
case of the castle being surrounded by the enemy, 
would furnish water for a large army inside. 

THE BIG WINE CASK 

In the wine cellar are two large casks, the larger 
being the most extensive wine cask ever built in the 
world. It was built in the year 1751. It was first 
filled in the year 1752, and twice after that. It is over 
twenty feet high and about thirty feet long. Its capac- 

228 



THE CALIFORNIA TREE 

ity is forty thousand gallons, or about two hundred and 
fifty thousand bottles. On top of it is a dance platform 
on which dances were given when the cask was filled. 
It was last filled near the close of the century in which 
it was built, but has never been used since the great fire, 
when the glory of the Heidelberg castle went out in 
flames, never to return. 

Standing opposite the head of this large cask is a 
statue of Perkeo, the dwarf and court jester, who 
amused the king at the time the great cask was in use. 
It is said of Mr. Perkeo that he was not only a great wit 
and a great joker, but, notwithstanding his limited 
stature, he drank daily from fifteen to eighteen bottles 
of strong wine. 

Next to the statue of Perkeo is a little box on the 
wall with a sign on the outside that induces most people 
to open the door in order to see what is on the inside. 
As the latch is released the door of the box flies open 
and to the door is attached the tail of a fox that strikes 
the curiosity seeker fair in the face. I do not know that 
this is a necessary adjunct of the castle, but it appears 
to go along and be handed out to every visitor to the 
wine cellar. 

We climbed the ladder to the top of the big cask 
and rattled our feet on the platform there in imitation 
of dancing. The sound of our feet was re-echoed in the 
empty recess of the great barrel and it seemed to us to 
be an echo rather of the past than of our own making. 

THE CALIFORNIA TREE 

After spending a considerable time about the old 
castle, we passed out through the excellent woods with 
which it is surrounded, and, among a lot of trees our 

229 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

attention was called to one which was a giant among its 
fellows, and the guard told us that this was a California 
redwood tree, brought from its native soil many years 
ago and planted in this for-off country, where it is ex- 
ceeding in growth all of its companions. 

A tree ordinarily does not seem to amount to much, 
but when you are four or five thousand miles from home 
in lands where you see many flags other than the stars 
and stripes, when you are wandering among the ruins 
of ancient history and meeting few people that speak 
your native tongue, to come upon an evergreen tree 
from one of the states of your own dear country touches 
your heart in a peculiar sort of way and you feel that 
its great protecting arms are stretching out to shield you 
and take care of you in your loneliness. 

As we came away from the old castle and took a 
last look at it, we saw how kindly the green ivy had 
crawled over it and covered up its scars. The old Hei- 
delberg castle may never see its former brilliancy, may 
never again entertain lords and chiefs like those of other 
days, but for centuries yet to come it will lend a beauty 
to the old city, more tender than it did in its best days, 
and will make it the objective point of many a traveler. 

"Old Heidelberg! Thy beauty 

Is crowned with honors rare, 
No town on Rhine or Neckar 

Can unto thee compare, 
Thou home of merry comrades, 

Of wisdom deep, and wine, 
Within thy streams' clear water 

Blue eyes reflected shine." 

MAINZ 

If you ever take a trip to Europe do not lose the 
opportunity of going down the Rhine. We counted this 

230 



GUTENBERG 

one of the most enjoyable features of our pilgrimage 
and for that purpose we came to the city of Mentz in 
English, Mainz in German, or Mayence in French, where 
big boats start for the down-river trip. I think Mainz 
is the most popular name. This city is situated on the 
left bank of the Rhine near the influx of the river Main, 
after which the city appears to be named. It has a pop- 
ulation of a little less than 100,000. It is "very much 
like other old German cities in this neighborhood, and its 
history is somewhat the same. It was founded in the 
second century by the Romans, destroyed in the fifth 
century by Attila, the Hun, restored by Charlemagne, 
had a stormy existence during the thirty years ' war, was 
taken by the Swedes in 1631, was captured by the Im- 
perialists, whoever they were, in 1635, and by the 
French in 1644, but finally got into the hands of the 
Germans. It was always considered a strategic place 
and is strongly fortified on both sides of the Rhine. 

The old part of the town has crooked and narrow 
streets, but there was a great fire here in 1857, and that 
part of the city was rebuilt with wider streets, and is 
quite modern. It has, like all of these other cities, a 
great old Cathedral and, something the others have not, 
a splendid new church. 

GUTENBERG 

One of the chief inventions to bless mankind ap- 
pears to have been brought about within the boundaries 
of this old city. It was the invention of movable or 
separable type. 

On one of the squares of the city of Mainz is a 
bronze statue to Johann Gutenberg, the man who is 
accorded the honor of the idea. Previous to his time 

231 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

printing had been done, but the work was done with 
blocks or engravings. If a book was to be printed each 
page would be engraved separately, and the forms, hav- 
ing been used for that purpose, were of no further value 
except for the reprinting of the same work. Guten- 
berg conceived the idea of casting each type in a sepa- 
rate piece so that any form could be set up, the work 
printed therefrom, and the type distributed in cases and 
used over and over for any other purpose. So in case 
a book of 1,000 pages was to be printed it would not be 
necessary to engrave 1,000 separate pages, nor was it 
necessary to have type enough to set up 1,000 separate 
pages. Enough type to set up one or more forms was all 
that was necessary, the same type being used again for 
subsequent forms, as has been done ever since. 

Gutenberg, who took his name from his mother's 
family instead of his father's, was born about the year 
1420. I am not certain that he was born at Mainz, for 
he first carried on business at Strassburg. He after- 
wards moved to Mainz where he formed a partnership 
with a man by the name of Faust, Fust or Faustus, as it 
is variously written. The first books from moveable 
type were turned out in the year 1450. Gutenberg and 
Faust did not get along very well together, and, after 
dissolving partnership, Faust sued Gutenberg for 1,550 
gilders, which he had loaned him for the purpose of 
helping him out in the work of making paper and type 
and printing books, and it seems that Faust must have 
been right for he got judgment from Gutenberg for 
that amount. 

Gutenberg then took his son-in-law, Schoffer, into 
partnership with him and carried on a considerable bus- 

232 



GUTENBERG 

iness. However, Gutenberg retired from the business, 
which Schoffer and somebody else continued. Their 
manner of doing printing was kept a profound secret 
and Dr. Faust, Fust or Faustus was supposed to be in 
league with the devil. I presume the drama of ' ' Faust ' ' 
is taken somewhat from that incident. 

In the year 1462, when Mainz was sacked and al- 
most entirely destroyed by an invading army, Schoffer 's 
printing office was broken up, his workmen were 
scattered and the art of making moveable types and 
printing therefrom became common property throughout 
the world. Gutenberg died at Mainz in the year 1468, 
twenty-four years before Columbus discovered America. 

The statue of Gutenberg, which occupies a conspicu- 
ous position in this city, was the work of the great 
Danish sculptor, Thorwaldsen, who was also the 
sculptor of the "Lion of Lucerne." The statue of 
Gutenberg is in keeping with this great artist's work. 
It represents the old printer with his long beard, in 
heroic size, dressed in the costume of his day which con- 
sisted of a cap, skin-tight trousers, and a coat or gown 
with a wide collar and with wide lapels down the front, 
and reaching nearly to his ankles, very much in the 
sliape of the long ulsters or rain coats of the present day. 

On fine jobs of printing and on some fine books, 
you frequently see a medallion with three faces over- 
lapping each other. It is a sort of general emblem of 
the printing business. Those three faces on this medal- 
lion are those of of Gutenberg, Faust and Schoffer. 

As I stood before the great statue of Gutenberg, the 
father of the modern idea of printing, I felt like taking 
off my hat and making a profound bow to him, for, 

233 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

from his invention, the world has received more en- 
lightenment than from any other single invention that 
has ever been presented to it by a master mind. 

Gutenberg, with extreme modesty, never made a 
single claim to being the inventor of this great device, 
but it has been accorded him, after the most thorough 
investigation by the most illustrious historians, in the 
face of many others who have claimed the honor. 

It is a little peculiar that, after Gutenberg's inven- 
tion had illuminated the world, and made printing 
easier and more practical than it ever had been before, 
in these later years changes have been made in the art 
of printing that, while superseding Gutenberg's inven- 
tion, have to a certain extent returned to the principle 
from which Gutenberg broke away. The modern so- 
called tpye-setting machines, the ones which are used 
most in this country, do not use separable type, but cast 
type in a solid, single line, and plates, from which all 
the great newspapers of America are printed, are stereo- 
type blocks of an entire solid page. But this is another 
story. 

The great art of printing took a start at the time of 
Gutenberg's invention and spread over the entire civil- 
ized world. It brought a new era of intelligence to 
mankind. More books have been printed in each suc- 
ceeding year since that time till the volumes now issued 
each year might be numbered by the millions, if it were 
not for the fact that there are so many of them turned 
out that they cannot be numbered at all. 

The copies of the daily newspapers that are issued 
from the press each and every day are almost as count- 
less as the leaves of the forest, and reading matter, 

234 



GUTENBERG 

which, before the days of Gutenberg, was a luxury, con- 
fined to a little band of wealthy or aristocratic people, 
has now been placed within the reach of the multitude 
in such quantities that there is no excuse for ignorance 
in any quarter of the globe at the present time. 



235 



Chapter XVIII 



DOWN THE RHINE 

The river Rhine is the most important river, com- 
mercially, of the continent of Europe, and the largest 
river of Germany. It is also exceedingly picturesque 
and of great historic interest. The Rhine trip is so easy 
to make, consumes so little time and is so wonderfully 
fascinating that it appears to me that in making any 
trip through Europe, the Rhine should be included. It 
impressed me as being one of the finest river trips that I 
have ever experienced, and I might lay claim to being 
somewhat of a judge of water navigation, having 
traversed the Hudson river, the St. Lawrence river, the 
Mississippi river, the Columbia river, the Ohio river, the 
Missouri river, the St. Johns and Indian rivers of 
Florida, the Saguenay river of Canada, the Thames 
river of England, the Seine of France, the lakes of Kil- 
larney, all the northern lakes of this country, Puget 
sound, the Atlantic ocean, the Pacific ocean, the Gulf of 
Mexico, the canals of Venice, Holland and Mexico, and 
several other bodies and streams of water, not failing 
to mention the Sangamon river on which Lincoln floated 
his first flat-boat. They all have their peculiarities and 
their particular charms, but none of them have the old 
castles with their legends that so much increase the in- 
terest of a ride on the famous Rhine. 

It was a sort of dreary, rainy day and a cloudy 

236 



THE MASCOT GOAT 

evening when we were in Mainz, and when we retired 
at night we wondered what the morning would bring 
forth. Our room in the hotel overlooked the river front, 
adjoining a park between, from whence we could hear 
the music of a classical concert through even the murky 
atmosphere in the evening. Adjoining this park was the 
river bank, its line of demarkation being outlined by a 
solid stone wall several miles in length. The boat land- 
ing was directly in front of our room. 

It appeared that Providence was with us, for with 
the morning light came warm weather and beautiful 
sunshine. The boat lay at the landing with its 
flag waving from its staff. The distance from the 
hotel is so short that nobody ever thinks of taking a con- 
veyance. The porter took our heavier pieces of bag- 
gage and at 9 o'clock we were ready for the trip down 
the Ehine. Of course the boat was fully manned by a 
German crew, but we found one man who could speak 
very good English. 

THE MASCOT GOAT 

On the pier among the passengers was a good-sized 
goat, which was a sort of mascot of the place and ap- 
peared to be very familiar in his manners with the boat 
hands and the passengers who were embarking. The 
goat was busily engaged in looking for something to eat 
and was ready to pay its attention to either a tin can, 
a lady's shawl or the numerous labels with which the 
passengers' baggage was illuminated. 

You know it is the custom in Europe for every hotel 
to place a big label of the most flashy combination of 
red, green, blue and yellow on everybody's baggage. 

Mainz being about the center of Europe, the tour- 
237 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ists meet each other coming and going, and by the time 
each stream of travel is ready to rendezvous at this point 
the baggage of all travelers is so completely frescoed 
with labels of all shapes and colors that each and every 
piece absolutely glows in its glory like Joseph's coat of 
many colors. The side of an ordinary suit case looks 
like a miniature billboard and it might be supposed 
that every traveler was the traveling agent of some show 
printing house and that he carried the samples of the 
most brilliant specimens they could do in billboard work 
on the side of his grip. 

As these labels are put on with flour paste, they 
presented a very great temptation to this goat, who 
carried with him his usual appetite. A steamboat land- 
ing in this part of the country is a very interesting place 
for one of these animals, if he can get at the baggage. 
As the boat shoved out into mid-stream and the goat 
was left behind, I think he felt sort of sorry that he 
could not stay with that baggage till it reached its desti- 
nation, or till he had all the labels off of it. 

GOOD BOATS 

The boats, which are made somewhat after the pat- 
tern of the Hudson river boats in our country, are long 
and narrow, do not set very high, but have remarkable 
speed qualities, which, with the fast current, makes the 
trip somewhat exciting. Two long tables in the dining 
room accommodate all the passengers at one sitting, 
there being facilities for the whole three hundred to eat 
at one time. The boat made only short stops at the va- 
rious landings, just long enough to take on and discharge 
the passengers and their baggage. 

There were about three hundred people on the boat 

238 



BRIDGES ON THE RHINE 

with us and among them was a jolly crowd of Germans 
who appeared to be members of some club. They came 
on at Mainz or Wiesbaden and left the boat at Coblentz 
about noon. They sat around the table and drank wine 
and joined with the musician of the boat, who sang 
and played a guitar. They made the hills ring with the 
"Watch on the Ehine" and other German airs. They, 
however, did not neglect the drinking of Rhine in order 
to sing of the Rhine, for, as that party of fifteen left 
the boat at Coblentz, I counted twenty-five large empty 
wine botttles on the table around which they had sat 
while singing. 

GREAT BRIDGES ON THE RHINE 

Directly opposite from Mainz is the town of Castel 
with several bridges connecting the towns, and the mag- 
nificence of these bridges with their great towers pre- 
sents an impressive sight. They seem to have been built 
with three ideas in view. One, the utilitarian idea, as 
they carry the railway trains and other traffic ; the sec- 
ond, the architectural idea of beauty and impressive- 
ness, and the third idea seems to embrace the lasting 
qualities, for they look as though they were intended to 
stand a thousand years and be in good condition at the 
end of that time. And such bridges as these cross over 
the Rhine, in many places being high enough for the 
boats to pass under without having draws of any kind. 

I was surprised, however, as we approached the 
town of Cologne to find a pontoon bridge, and I had 
noticed that we had passed one or two others on the 
river. A pontoon bridge, you understand, is a bridge 
composed of boats anchored side by side, reaching clear 
across the river and with a roadway laid on top and con- 

239 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

necting all of them. The bridge has no piers but the 
weight rests on the floating boats which are anchored in 
mid-stream. They are usually temporary institutions 
and are not often used, although there are one or two on 
the Mississippi river, and perhaps in other places in the 
United States. 

I was surprised to find such temporary institutions 
in use in this old settled country, and especially near 
the other great permanent structures. On inquiry I 
found there were two reasons assigned for the continued 
maintenance of these bridges. One was that they could 
be used in case any of the permanent bridges were dis- 
abled and out of condition, but the most important use 
of these bridges is for military practice. Pontoon 
bridges are frequently used in military campaigns and 
these bridges are kept on the Rhine to give the soldiers 
of the German army practical experience in handling 
them. 

THE OLD CASTLES 

The greatest interest in a trip on the Rhine is in the 
old castles which adorn its hills on either side. There 
are many of these in all states of preservation, from com- 
plete order down to the last stages of decay. How many 
there are of them I am unable to say, but between Mainz 
and (Joblentz you are in sight of one or more of these 
castles almost all of the time. Nearly all of these date 
back into the middle ages, some of them being very, very 
old. 

These castles were built by baron chiefs in the days 
before society was fully organized after the dark ages 
and when each one of these old chiefs had around him 
a following who lived with him and joined in his ex- 

240 



THE OLD CASTLES 

ploits. They located along the Rhine because there was 
very rich picking along the grand old river. They 
levied tribute or blackmail on every boat that passed up 
and down the river in those days, long before steam and 
electricity had been thought of and when the mariner 
had to depend on sails, oars and ropes for the progress 
of his vessel. I can hardly conceive how, with their 
primitive methods, they ever got much of a boat up the 
stream against the swift current, but they did it some 
way. As they passed by, each one of the robber barons 
who lived in these old castles would swoop down on them 
and levy blackmail to an uncertain extent of their cargo, 
and, by the time the poor mariner completed his trip, if 
he had as much left as the hull of his boat and a very 
small amount of his freight, and had preserved his life, 
he would immediately repair to some shrine, cross his 
bosom and thank the Lord that he was still here and able 
to make another trip for the benefit of the robbers. 

These barons were no weak brothers, either, for 
their castles were great fortresses, with their moats and 
drawbridges, and they had hundreds and perhaps thou- 
sands as reckless devils as ever existed, to support them. 
Their exactions in the course of time became so severe 
that several cities along the Rhine were nearly ruined by 
their oppression, being unable to get any goods in or out 
of their places on account of the tolls levied by these 
robbers. A number of cities finally formed a coalition 
and it was through this that these conscienceless scoun- 
drels were overthrown, their castles destroyed and left 
to make the melancholy but entertaining pictures which 
we find here to-day. 

A castle called the Rheinfels was the worst center 

241 

—16 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

of the whole lot, its lord being the most greedy and un- 
relenting of all of his fellows. Such men as these, 
however, who exceed in cruelty and greed, also gather 
about them the largest bands to share their ill-gotten 
gains, so when the league was formed and made war on 
the lord of Eheinf els, it had a considerabe fight on hand. 
The baron and his band held at bay an army estimated 
at twenty-five thousand, for a matter of fifteen months, 
and, on more than one occasion, defeated them in battle. 
The castle finally succumbed, but it presents a wonder- 
ful picture of stone and defeated strength even at the 
present day. All of these old castles are overgrown with 
ivy, which makes them very pretty, notwithstanding 
their ruined and broken parts. 

THE LEGENDS OF THE RHINE 

Every one of the old castles on the Rhine has a 
legend of its own and there are legends connected with 
certain points on the river. 

For instance, there is St. Goar, which takes its 
name from the legend of the ferryman who claimed to 
be a saint — and, in a strictly original way, converted all 
of his passengers, especially when he received them one 
at a time. He was a very devout man and, as soon as he 
would get his lone passenger in mid-stream he would 
throw him overboard and hold him down and give him a 
cleansing baptism. Then, as he would let the victim up, 
he would ask him if he had repented. If he had not he 
would souse him under the water again and drown him 
then and there, but if the victim declared that he had 
repented and was converted by his baptism, then the old 
ferryman would drown him anyhow for fear he would 
be a backslider in case he got back on shore. 

242 



SENSELESS STONES 

THE LORELEI 

At one place the river makes a sharp bend around a 
magnificent point 450 feet high, called the Lorelei, di- 
rectly opposite considerable rapids in the stream. In late 
years the stone has been blasted from the bed of this dan- 
gerous passage, and, while the current is very swift, the 
boats go by in safety. But in the olden time it was a 
very dangerous place and many a boat went to its de- 
struction in rounding this point. It was supposed that 
a siren sang her beautiful songs that lured the mariners 
to the destruction of their vessels and to their death, 
and in the eddies and foam the natives imagined they 
saw the form of the enchanting but wicked super- 
natural beauty. 

But science punctures all superstition in the course 
of time and Lorelei has ceased to be an object of super- 
stition, for the railroad that was built down the eastern 
side of the Rhine river found it impossible to go around 
the Lorelei, so it went straight through with a magnifi- 
cent tunnel, big enough to accommodate two tracks. 
And, as the rapids have been made safe, the legend of 
Lorelei is but a recollection of the past. 

SENSELESS STONES 

Peeping from the surface of the Ehine at one place 
are seven irregular, rugged stones of large proportions. 
There is a legend in connection with these, and that is 
that a wealthy gentleman had seven beautiful daughters 
and they were much given to flirtation and deceived 
many men who had true and good hearts and who sought 
the hands of the young ladies and, also, incidentally, 
their father's fortune. The fairies finally interfered 
and punished the girls for their cruel flirtation by turn- 

243 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ing them into stones and placing them in the bed of this 
river projecting a little above the water line. They are 
called the Seven Senseless Stones. 

A bachelor friend of ours, upon hearing this story, 
suggested that if all the girls in our country who flirted 
were turned into rock and placed in the streams of the 
United States, navigation in our rivers might be rather 
difficult and somewhat dangerous. 

THE CASTLES OF THE BROTHERS 

On one of the hills, which has two prominent points 
and a narrow passage between, there are two castles, one 
on each point. They are called the Castles of the 
Brothers. The legend in connection with these is that 
the two castles were built by two brothers who lived in 
complete harmony, one with the other and each with 
each, until they both, unfortunately, fell in love with 
the same lady. There was no compromise in the situa- 
tion and the ill feeling grew stronger and stronger be- 
tween them until one day they met on the narrow pas- 
sage connecting the two castles, with swords in hand, and 
fought until each brother pierced the other brother 
through the heart, and both fell from the cliff, one on 
one side of the divide, the other on the other side, both 
sharing victory and defeat at the same instant. 
THE SILVER BELL 

The Castle of Falkenberg has its legend that the 
lord thereof once stole a silver bell from a church, and, 
when the bishop called on him for the return of the bell, 
instead of restoring it, he tied it about the bishop 's neck 
and threw him, so encumbered, into the bottom of the 
deep well of the castle. The bishop was never again 
heard from, but in a few days the lord of the castle fell 

244 



THE DRAGON'S ROOK 

under the weather. He grew steadily worse and sent 
for the medicine man. Every attention was given him 
but the medicine did not improve his condition, and, in 
spite of all that could be done, his life ebbed swiftly 
away, and along about midnight those who stood about 
him heard the death knell sounded on a bell. There was 
an unearthly peculiarity about the subdued tones of the 
bell, different from any tones of a bell that had ever 
been heard before. They could not tell whence the 
sounds came, but, after much search, they found the 
sound of the bell came from the deep recesses of the 
well, and, at the dread hour of midnight as the last 
stroke of the bell sounded, Lord Falkenstein, the baron 
of the castle, breathed his last and his soul was wafted 
to that unknown bourne from whence no mortal has 
ever yet returned. And every year since then, at ex- 
actly the same midnight hour, the sounds of the bell re- 
verberate from its deep grave through the hills around 
about the castle of Falkenberg. 

THE DRAGON'S ROCK 

Then there is the Drachenfels or Dragon's Rock, 
the castle and rock being named from a legend connected 
with a dragon which was the terror of the world. There 
is a story about the dragon, but it is too long to give 
here. Suffice it to say that it finally came to its death 
when it attacked a young woman who was a true Chris- 
tian and who raised in front of the monster a crucifix, 
at the sight of which the dragon raised itself high in the 
air and fell backwards over the great cliff and was 
dashed to its destruction on the stones below. 

But I cannot tell all the legends in connection with 

245 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the castles on the Rhine. There were too many for me 
to recollect. 

THE RAT OR MOUSE TOWER 

There is one legend, however, that cannot very well 
be omitted in connection with an account of the Rhine, 
and that is the legend of the "Rat" or "Mouse" tower. 
This tower has been completely restored of late. It is 
near to the river and presents a wonderfully impressive 
view. 

It is said that in the olden time, when dogs ate lime, 
and pigs went around with forks in their backs saying, 
"Who'll eat me? who'll eat me?" — this tower was the 
home of one Bishop Hatto, a religious man with a heart 
of stone, who, in a year of famine, took a lot of women 
and children and, placing them in his barn, set it on 
fire, remarking that they did not amount to anything 
anyhow as they were only a lot of miserable rats eating 
corn, and it was a good way to get rid of them. 

No sooner had he set the barn on fire and made his 
heartless statement than the servants announced that 
there was something coming that looked like an army of 
rats marching in his direction. Taking only one look 
he got into his tower as quick as he could for he saw the 
rats coming sure enough. But it appeared that neither 
bricks nor stone nor mortar could withstand the on- 
slaught of the rats. They came through cracks, crevices 
and solid blocks of stone, and, within a few hours, not- 
withstanding a strenuous battle on the part of the 
bishop, they had overcome him and they gnawed him 
meat and bone. And thus the name of the Rat or Mouse 
tower has been applied to this edifice ever since. 

246 



THE EMPEROR'S CASTLE 

THE TOLL HOUSE 

An odd construction stands at one place directly in 
the middle of the river on a solid base. It is quite large 
and strongly built. It might be imagined a castle, a 
prison or a fortress. The doors or openings are high 
from the base and are reached only by a ladder. It is 
said that it was formerly used as a toll house where 
every boat had to pay tribute before passing. It was 
built strong that it might withstand a siege, and, in the 
base, is an immense well, so that it could be supplied 
with pure filtered water. That it was used for a prison 
is evidenced by its dungeons and the windows that are 
high from the floor so that prisoners confined in the in- 
terior could not escape. It is an odd and striking struc- 
ture, but has evidently outlived its days of usefulness, 
for it is neither a prison, a fortress nor a toll house at 
the present time. 

THE EMPEROR'S CASTLE 

A beautiful castle is the Stolzenf els. It has been in 
existence a thousand years, but was restored in more re- 
cent times and belongs to Emperor William. It was a 
favorite resort of his grandmother, the Empress Au- 
gusta. 

Another great castle on this river is called the 
Rheinstein. It is at least six hundred years old, but is 
entirely restored and is now the summer residence of 
Emperor William. 

There are a number of other castles on the Rhine 
which have fallen into the hands of wealthy men and 
have been restored and are used as residences at the 
present time. 

These old castles are wonderful edifices. They 

247 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUEOPE 

carry one back into the dark ages before the governments 
of this era were organized, and when each robber baron, 
surrounded by his band of cut-throats and brigands, 
ruled in a fashion to suit himself. His castle was his 
stronghold; his rights rested only upon his might to 
enforce them, and his conscience rested entirely on the 
problem of self-preservation and aggrandizement. The 
baron knew no code of law but his own whim, and his 
followers knew no duty but obedience and loyalty to 
the leader, looking to their reward for faithful per- 
formance and suffering fear and trembling at his disap- 
proval. Each castle was the center of a little kingdom 
of its own, built upon blood and rapine and existing on 
its ill-gotten gains and defying the rest of mankind 
by its almost impregnable strength. But there came a 
restoration of order. There came a time when civiliza- 
tion asserted itself again and these old castles are now 
but the evidence of a mistaken age. 

But they are wonderfully interesting in their 
legends, beautiful in their locations and sad in their de- 
caying state. They lend a wonderful enchantment, 
too, to the great river Rhine, which, with their at- 
tractions, is hardly equalled by any stream on the face 
of the globe. 

VINEYARDS OF THE RHINE 

Soon after leaving Mainz we came to Wiesbaden, 
where we took on more passengers. We soon found our- 
selves between the mountains or hills on each side, 
covered with the vineyards which have made the Rhine 
famous, not only in the matter of beauty, but in the 
matter of producing wine. The hills, which sometimes 
reach a height of nearly a thousand feet, are terraced 

248 



VINEYARDS ON THE RHINE 

with stone walls, one above the other, in irregular steps, 
each one containing a little green vineyard which, by 
the formation of the wall, is hung onto the side of the 
slope. In some of these places as many as forty of these 
terraces rise one above the other, and, when one con- 
templates the work that was necessary to lay up the miles 
and miles of these terraces, it seems incomprehensible 
that it is the work of man done altogether by hand. 

The labor and patience that has been exerted on 
these terraces year after year, and generation after gen- 
eration, speaks in a silent language of the sturdiness 
of the German people who have laid them up. If it were 
not for these walls, however, few vineyards could be 
found along the Rhine, for the mountain slopes are so 
abrupt that no soil could remain upon them very long 
unless it were held there by these retaining walls. 

The most renowned of all these works are the cele- 
brated slopes of Johannesberg, from whence comes the 
popular Johannesberg Rhine Wine. 

These vineyards, held in place by their retaining 
walls, are valuable property. They are closely culti- 
vated and not a foot of the ground is allowed to go to 
waste. As you float down the middle of the river and 
these vineyards rise on both sides, cut up by their stone 
walls, they present a wonderfully beautiful picture. The 
shapes of the various pieces are as different as could well 
be imagined, and very much resemble the crazy quilt 
formation that was such a fad for the ladies of the 
United States a few years ago. 

Close by the margin of the river on each side is a 
double railway track ; there are also most excellent car- 
riage drives, so that all day long the scene is enlivened 

249 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

by the rapidly passing trains, and by people riding in 
automobiles, carriages, wagons, on bicycles, etc. 

There are a number of cities and villages along the 
river and the traffic that is carried on the water was 
really a revelation to me. On our great Mississippi 
river steamboat traffic is almost a thing of the past, and 
there are hours and even days when you scarcely see a 
boat on this stream. There is a good deal of freight 
carried on the Hudson river between Albany and New 
York city, and it is counted a very lively highway of 
traffic, but it is my honest opinion that there are at least 
five times as many boats on the river Khine between Co- 
logne and Mainz as there are on the Hudson river be- 
tween Albany and New York city. 

The activity along the river, made up of the numer- 
ous boats, the railway trains, the roadway traffic, is so in 
contrast with the quiet, peaceful fields beyond, and so 
up-to-date as compared with the old ruined castles, that 
one is between the ancient and the modern, the present 
and the past, to such an extent that it carries with-it a 
great diversion of one's feelings. 

One of the interesting points passed on the river, 
soon after the beginning of the trip, is the little town of 
Bingen, ' ' Fair Bingen on the Ehine, ' ' which has become 
famous from being associated with that most touching 
poem which was familiar to all of us in our school-boy 

days: 

"A soldier of the legion 
Lay dying at Algiers, 
There was lack of woman's nursing, 
There was dearth of woman's tears." 

GERMAN NATIONAL MONUMENT 

Nearly opposite Bingen stands the German National 
monument. It is on a striking prominence called the 

250 



NATIONAL MONUMENT 

Niederwald Hill, seven hundred and forty feet above 
the river, and commemorates the victories of the Franco- 
Prussian war. From the boat it hardly looks as large 
as it is, for it is a long way off, but it is of colossal size 
and a magnificent work of art, being one of the greatest 
war monuments ever erected. 

It is composed of stone and bronze. It is more than 
one hundred feet high and is surmounted by a statue of 
a bronze figure representing Germania, the idea being 
the same as our statue of the Goddess of Liberty. This 
statue of Germania, which caps the whole structure, is 
thirty-three feet high. On each corner of the base below 
are colossal figures of angels or heralds with sword in 
hand and blowing a blast of victory on long trumpets. 
In bas-relief on the pedestal are the portraits of Emper- 
or William and the great generals of the German army 
One of the bronze tablets represents the "Watch on the 
Rhine," and the words of that song are said to be en- 
graved beneath, although we could not see them from 
the boat. This great monument is located in such a po- 
sition that it can be seen for a considerable distance 
from either direction on the river. 

In our day's journey, in addition to the other towns 
and cities named, we passed Bacharach, which is fa- 
mous for the ruins of an old chapel almost as large as a 
castle, and the junction of the Mosel river with the 
Rhine, with a beautiful village on each side of the latter 
river, and Coblentz, the old Roman town formerly called 
' •' Confiuento " from being where another river joins the 
Rhine, a city remarkable for its nice houses and its fine 
bridges ; the old city Ems, which hugs the river on both 
sides, and the town of Andernach, and the city of Bonn, 

251 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

where the great musical composer, Beethoven, was born. 
After passing many other towns, we came to our jour- 
ney's end at the old city of Cologne. 

END OF THE RHINE 

Almost every river has its own characteristics. 
Hardly any of them are similar. The river Rhine is 
different in one particular from most other great rivers 
of the world. Almost all great rivers flow into some 
larger body of water, and increase in size as they finally 
reach their destination. Contrary to this, the river 
Rhine is a much greater river in the middle than it is 
at either end. Rising at its source up in the Alps, it is 
not much of a stream, but that part which runs through 
Germany is entitled to be classed among the great rivers 
of the world, being of good proportions and carrying a 
large amount of traffic. But it does not increase in size 
after leaving Cologne. On the contrary, after passing 
Emerich, a few miles below Cologne, it enters the Nether- 
lands, and, almost immediately, subdivides into two 
smaller rivers. These rivers further subdivide and com- 
pose a number of streams to which a dozen different 
names are applied, and the name Rhine is lost track of 
as the river passes through this low country. The waters 
finally enter into the Zuyder Zee and the North Sea, the 
several mouths being scattered over a distance of one 
hundred miles on the seashore. 

The Nile and the Mississippi have their deltas, where 
they divide into smaller streams, but none of them comes 
to so inglorious a finish as does the magnificent river 
Rhine. I felt sorry that the Rhine did not continue on 
its proud way with undiminished volume to the sea. So 
we left it with sorrow and took up our lodging in a 

252 



CITY OF COLOGNE 

convenient location in the Rhine's greatest city, the city 
of Cologne. 

CITY OF COLOGNE 

Cologne is an old, old city. It was a town of con- 
siderable size before the Roman conquest and many of 
its buildings are of great historical interest. It was 
named by Emperor Claudius of Rome, who is given the 
credit of establishing it. In A. D. 51, the name Cologne 
was given in honor of his wife, Colonia Agrippina. 

Its streets are many of them so narrow and so 
crooked that it reminds one of one of those puzzle laby- 
rinths in a public park, where you get in and can't get 
out. But it is wonderfully interesting withal, and be- 
sides doing a very large business in many lines, for it is 
a large city, it has some very attractive places. 

"We engaged an automobile, of which there were a 
large number, and rode all about the city, examining its 
great walls and fortresses, went through its parks, and 
threaded its crooked and narrow streets as well as its 
wide and elegant boulevards, and it impressed us as 
having many charming residences and good store houses. 
It is a walled city and its geography conforms to that 
old idea of being built to fit the wall or the wall being 
built to fit the city. 

When you get to Cologne, about one of the first 
things that you encounter is a chance to buy a bottle of 
"perfumery called Eau de Cologne, and if you stay there 
a little while you have an opportunity to buy another 
and another bottle, and if you remain there very long 
it seems to me that you could buy enough cologne water 
to sprinkle the streets of an ordinary city. And yet 
Cologne is not such a sweet-smelling place after all, as 

253 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

might be expected. One million five hundred thousand 
bottles of cologne are exported from this city every year. 
I have often heard that it was a bad-smelling town, but it 
struck me as being remakably well kept and in good 
condition and I will file no complaint in that line. 

The new part of the city has been built around the 
original city and the line of demarkation is a circular 
boulevard three and a half miles long, called the "Ring- 
Strasse. ' ' 

But the greatest thing in Cologne, as in all of these 
other towns, is its Cathedral. I have described so many 
churches and Cathedrals that I will pass over this edifice 
more lightly than it deserves, for, while it is not so large 
as the Gothic Cathedral of Milan, it is the finest Gothic 
building in the world and might be the subject of an en- 
tire letter. By Gothic is meant that pointed style of 
architecture as exemplified in church steeples and church 
windows, running to a point at the top, and pinnacles, 
etc., of the same nature. 

This Cathedral was begun in the year 1248 and was 
not completed until the year 1880. There was more 
than three million dollars spent on this edifice in its 
completion between the years 1842 and 1880, when it 
was consecrated with imposing ceremonies. 

The total length of the church is about five hundred 
feet, and it has two magnificent towers exactly alike, 
each being five hundred and twenty-five feet high and as 
ornate as towers could well be built. In one of them 
there is a grand chime of bells which was placed there 
in 1447, and in 1874, after the Franco-Prussian war, a 
thirty ton bell, which was made from the French can- 
nons which were captured in the war, was added to this 

254 



HUNGARIAN ORCHESTRA 

collection. It is a huge bell and its sonorous tones shake 
the earth when it is sounded. 

But we cannot go into further description at this 
time, although the edifice is worthy of more attention 
than we are giving it. The heart of Marie de Medici, 
who died in exile and poverty in Cologne, is buried in 
this Cathedral, and there are a number of wonderful, 
valuable and interesting relics in its treasury. 

There is another church in Cologne that contains 
the bones of eleven thousand virgins who were massa- 
cred by the Huns during their invasion. 

There are also many statues and ornaments and 
over the great bridge are equestrian statues of Fred- 
erick William IV. and Emperor William I. 

There is a remarkable statue of Bismarck in Co- 
logne. It is in the shape of a tower with the old prince 
sitting with his back against it, and being surrounded 
by a sort of stone frame. The position is very much 
the same as the seated statues of Egypt, which are 
shown as being along the river Nile. If one did not 
know that Bismarck was a comparatively modern per- 
sonage, he might suppose that this odd monument had 
been here hundreds of years, it looks so old. It is a 
singular tribute to a great man. 

A HUNGARIAN ORCHESTRA 

At the hotel where we stayed in Cologne there is a 
large garden in the center of the block, brilliantly illu- 
minated and with porches under cover, where they set 
the tables, and where, in the summer time, the evening 
meals are served. Music was furnished by a band of 
four or five artists called a Hungarian orchestra. It 
differed from any ordinary orchestra only in the fact 

. 255 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

that the main instrument of the combination was a 
Hungarian piano. This was somewhat in the shape of 
an instrument formerly used in our country called a 
dulcimer. The instrument this artist played was of 
greater proportions than any instrument of this nature 
that I have seen in America. It was about like a small 
piano would be if you should take off the key-board 
and remove the upper casing, leaving the sound-board 
and exposing the strings to view, on which the per- 
former made music by thumping them with little balls 
made of wood or leather on the ends of elastic steel 
wires which he handled in place of the ordinary keys 
of a piano. 

As this particular performer got nearly as much 
music out of this instrument as is produced by the 
ordinary piano, where the performer uses ten fingers, 
you can well imagine that he thumped in a remark- 
ably lively manner. I doubt if I have ever seen a man 
who could hit anything as often and as fast as this 
gentleman could strike the strings of his instrument. 
He certainly must have attained his proficiency by long 
and active practice. I had no arrangement, of course, 
by which I could keep time on him, but I should 
imagine he could thump about eight hundred and sixty 
thumps a minute with each hand, and his motions were 
as eccentric and grotesque as those of the great Crea- 
tore when he leads his famous Italian band. The music 
he and his associates made was remarkably well exe- 
cuted, wonderfully pleasing to the ear and entertain- 
ing and interesting to the eye. 

A WELSH RAREBIT 

At noon-time of the day we were in Cologne, and 
256 




■ - - 




~ BRWk I, . ff 




BISMARCK MONUMENT, COLOGNE. 

"If one did not know, he might suppose this odd monument had 
been here hundreds of years." — Page 255. 



A WELSH RAREBIT 

as we were passing along a small, narrow street well 
crowded with stores with most excellent stocks of 
goods, a brisk rain storm came up quite suddenly. Just 
at that time we came opposite an opening between the 
stores with a glass-covered roof, that led in an irregu- 
lar way through the block and was lined on both sides 
by small shops, where souvenirs, postal cards, etc., were 
sold. This was a most excellent haven in case of a sud- 
den rain, so we turned in and amused ourselves by 
looking at the goods displayed in the different show 
windows till, unexpectedly, we came to the door of a 
small restaurant. As it was more enjoyable to eat than 
to walk in the rain, we stepped into the restaurant for 
a lunch. 

Quite a number of very respectable looking peo- 
ple were circled around the little tables. The rooms 
were nicely furnished and carpeted and there was a 
general air of coziness and comfort about the place. 
The menu card was all printed in German except one 
line which caught our fancy and which was printed in 
most excellent English as follows: "Welsh Rarebit." 
As this was the only thing on the bill of fare that we 
could make out, we directed the waiter in the sign lan- 
guage to bring on the "Rabbit." After a short wait 
we got what we had called for and there was hardly a 
meal in Germany that we enjoyed better than we did this 
one which we came upon so unexpectedly and which 
we finished up just as the rain was over and the clouds 
rolled by. And soon thereafter we were on the train 
and whirling away to Amsterdam in Holland. 



257 

—17 



Chapter XIX 



AMONG THE DUTCH 

In going from Cologne to Amsterdam we passed 
through a part of Germany in which there are a large 
number of factories, I certainly never saw so many 
chimneys in so close proximity to each other, unless it 
was during a visit to Pittsburg, Pa, 

A good part of our route lay through Westphalia, 
a province of Prussia or Germany, and bordering on 
the Netherlands. 

As we passed over the line from Westphalia into 
Holland, it was not long before the characteristics of 
this peculiar old country came into view. There were 
the men with their wooden shoes, there were the 
spotted cows, the many canals, and the innumerable 
long-armed windmills that always go with Holland pic- 
tures. 

Holland proper is made up of North Holland and 
South Holland, two of the provinces of the Nether- 
lands, which includes several other provinces besides 
these two. Since Belgium has withdrawn from the rest 
of that part of the country known as the Netherlands, 
the name Holland is given to all of the provinces left, al- 
though properly belonging to the two named here. 

The name Netherlands signifies "low lands." 
Webster gives the definition of nether as being akin to 
downward, below, beneath, down, etc., as the quotation 

258 



DIKES AND CANALS 

from Milton reads, ' ' 'Twixt upper, nether and sur- 
rounding fires," and this word well describes this part 
of the world, as 1 a good deal of it is actually below sea 
level and if it were not for the great work that has been 
done in the building of the dikes and dams in Holland, 
what we call levees in this country, it would be almost 
entirely under water at this time. The whole country 
was evidently once the bed of the ocean and most of it 
has been reclaimed by the everlasting industry and 
dogged determination of the undaunted Dutch. 

GREAT DIKES AND CANALS 

The country is intersected by the deltas of the 
rivers Ehine, Maas, Shelt and a number of other 
streams, lakes, seas and lagoons, and the only things 
that reach above the tide-water lines are the immense 
sand dunes that have been raised by the action of 
the winds, and the dams or dikes that have been built 
by the people. Some of these dikes are as high as thirty 
feet, are seventy feet broad at the base, and a number of 
them are built of Norwegian granite. Frequently they 
have paved roads along the upper ridge. 

It is claimed that there are one million, nine hun- 
dred thousand miles of canals through the Netherlands 
and a large proportion of these are in the two little 
provinces of Holland. There are two ship canals, one 
from the North Sea, and the other from the Zuyder Zee, 
leading to Amsterdam, which, at the time they were 
opened, were the greatest undertakings of this kind 
the world had ever seen. One of these is fifty miles long 
and the other is fifteen. The latter is from two hundred 
to over three hundred feet in width and thirty feet deep, 
and will float ocean vessels drawing eighteen feet of 
water. 259 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

The canals of Holland usually intersect each other 
and are laid out in a regular system, just as the country 
roads are laid out in the flat parts of our western states, 
except that there are more canals in Holland than there 
are public highways in any part of the United States. 
Where large canals intersect each other they have 
dams and locks, and the water is continually pumped by 
the large, long-armed, old-style windmills. The country 
being very flat there is always more or less of a breeze, 
at least enough to keep the windmills in motion. The 
work of these mills is very important to the people of 
Holland. They not only keep the water in the various 
canals from becoming stagnant, but they pump it from 
the lower to the higher levels, and from the lowlands to 
the sea. 

While some of the canals are large enough to float 
ocean steamers, others are only of sufficient size to carry 
small schooners or boats that are towed by horses or 
men, and there are even lesser canals, which we would 
call in our country "drainage ditches." The system 
of canals has been in course of construction for several 
centuries and is being further improved from year to 
year. 

There are a number of dikes built in the North Sea, 
which has an immense height of tide, and severe storms, 
and, if it were not for these dikes, which are among the 
wonders of the world, the whole country would be fre- 
quently inundated in times of storm. As it is, the 
country seems to be safe, notwithstanding you can stand 
behind these great walls and hear the waters of the 
North Sea beating against the outer side, sixteen feet 
above the ground on which you stand. 

260 



DUTCH HAVE TAKEN HOLLAND 

The two provinces claim an area of only 2,236 
square miles, which would be about the size of two of 
the largest counties of Illinois. There is a population of 
a little over 2,000,000. The principal cities are Amster- 
dam, Harlam, Altmae, The Hague, Lieden, Rotterdam 
and Gouda. 

THE DUTCH HAVE TAKEN HOLLAND 

I have often heard it said that "the Dutch have 
taken Holland," but this is not so much of a joke as 
most people imagine, for the Dutch have had to take 
Holland. On several occasions away back in the early 
history, they had to wrest their little country from the 
control of much larger and more formidable enemies 
and they usually succeeded. They were overcome, how- 
ever, by Napoleon I., but were one of the first nations 
to rise in revolt and to succeed in attaining their inde- 
pendence after the battle of Waterloo. 

In addition to their own little kingdom, they con- 
trol some important possessions in other parts of the 
world, notably the Islands of Java and New Guinea, 
some parts of Sumatra, and the Island of Borneo, be- 
sides some islands in the Carribean Sea on this conti- 
nent. Previous to the war in South Africa it was the 
Hollanders or Boers, as they were called, who had set- 
tled and had possession of nearly all of the south part 
of Africa. 

The little country has had several severe ordeals to 
pass through and the people have always been equal to 
any emergency that has arisen in connection with their 
civil and political affairs. They had much to do with 
the early settlement of New York city in our country, 
which was at first called New Amsterdam. 

261 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

OLD AMSTERDAM 

The principal city of Holland is Amsterdam, with 
a population of one-half million. Most of the cities of 
Holland take their names from some dam, and Amster- 
dam is no exception to the rule, as it is named after a 
dam on the Amstel river. The name in Dutch is "Am- 
steldamme," which has finally been contracted to the 
present form. 

Amsterdam is sometimes called the "Venice of the 
North," as it is built on some ninety different islands 
and has miles of canals in addition to its streets. These 
canals are spanned by three hundred bridges. Although 
it resembles Venice with its canals and bridges, it is en- 
tirely different from Venice in its poetic side, for it has 
no poetic side, and, it appears to me, that there is much 
hard work and very little poetry about the Dutch any- 
how. The boats are heavy vehicles of traffic, and not 
the pleasure gondolas of Venice. All appeared to be for 
business and not for pleasure. 

It is said that the street levels of Amsterdam are 
considerably below the water of the Zuyder Zee or the 
North Sea, and this appears to be the case, for when you 
go out in a boat from Amsterdam, instead of going down 
to the sea in ships, as the Bible says, you do not pro- 
ceed very far before you come to dikes, dams and locks 
where your vessel is raised several feet to a higher level 
before you can proceed out into the open water. 

The city of Amsterdam, which has beautiful as- 
phalt streets, lovely parks and yards, and is pleasant to 
the eye, is located upon an almost bottomless bog and 
the houses are all built on piles driven into the sand 
and muck beneath them. Sometimes these piles are 

262 



JOKE ON THE FOREIGNER 

spliced end to end and must be driven from 50 to 75 
feet in the earth to make any foundation whatever. 
Under these circumstances it seems strange that any- 
building in the city should stand upon its foundation. 
While some of them stand firm and square as they were 
built, hundreds of others do not, but, on the contrary, 
lean almost every direction. 

In passing along the business streets where the 
houses are four or five stories high, there is scarcely one 
of them that stands plumb. Some lean forward, some 
backward, some to one side and some to the other. They 
seem, however, to be well built, and very few of them 
display any cracks or crevices. Sometimes they are 
sunk from one to three feet below the level of the side- 
walk, and, in other places, they are built above the side- 
walk and apparently never have gone down at all. It 
was a surprise to me to see how out of plumb they stood 
and yet they stood so well. 

Probably the greatest building in the city is the 
Royal Palace, which stands upon fourteen thousand 
piles and, although it has stood since the year 1655, ap- 
pears to be as level and square upon its foundation 
as it could have been when it was built. This is a re- 
markable building, by the way, and its grand reception 
hall, they claim, is the finest room in all Europe. It is 
fifty-seven feet by one hundred and seven feet, the 
ceiling is one hundred feet high and the entire room is 
lined with fine Italian marble. It is a magnificent room 
and the Hollanders have reason to be proud of it. 

A JOKE ON THE FOREIGNER 

They have a fine zoological garden in Amsterdam, 
with quite an aquarium, which is one of the attractions 

263 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

of the place. They have a good collection of animals 
and the main avenue from the entrance is lined on both 
sides with a number of cockatoos in all colors that rest 
on roosts on top of short posts, and welcome visitors as 
they pass down the avenue. 

These people appear to have a peculiar idea that 
should be entirely satisfactory to those who live in 
Amsterdam, but is hardly so to visitors from other 
places. When we approached the entrance I noticed 
there were two gates; one had a sign indicating that it 
was for foreigners and the other that it was for resi- 
dents of the city. Being foreigners, we naturally passed 
in at the entrance so designated. After passing through 
the gate I found that the only difference between the 
two entrances was that those who went in the citizens' 
gate went in free of charge, while at the foreigners ' gate 
each person was compelled to buy a ticket, which cost 
about twenty-five cents. It was some satisfaction, how- 
ever, to find that when we came to pass out we could go 
through the same gate that was open to the Dutch with- 
out paying an additional fee. 

THE HOME OF REMBRANDT 

Amsterdam was the home of Rembrandt and a very 
creditable statue of the artist occupies a position in a 
little place known as Eembrandt Square, which is sur- 
rounded by trees and flowers. In the gallery there are 
a number of Rembrandt pictures, including, among 
others, one of his most celebrated called "The Night 
Watch." Rembrandt's pictures all possess the same 
general characteristics. They are remarkable for their 
lights and shades. The principal colors he used were 
chrome yellow and dark brown. Whenever you see one 

264 



JEWS OF AMSTERDAM 

of Rembrandt's pictures you always see the bright glare 
of yellow that is supposed to come from the rays of the 
sun. No artist has used so few colors as Rembrandt 
and used them so effectively. 

"The Night Watch" does not, as might be sup- 
posed from the name, represent any man or number of 
men watching in the night for burglars or trespassers, 
but, as I understand it, shows a rollicking set of fellows 
wlo clubbed together and enjoyed themselves after 
night and only watched for new adventures. In this 
picture the bright rays of the sun are superseded by the 
bright rays of some artificial light, but the same Rem- 
brandt idea illuminates this great picture. There is 
hardly any painter whose works are so universally pop- 
ular in all countries as those of the immortal Rembrandt. 

Another one of his great pictures, which is dis- 
played in a gallery at The Hague, is "The School of 
Anatomy." It represents a professor and his students 
in the act of dissecting a human corpse. It is a sort of 
uncanny picture, but it must be regarded as a wonder- 
ful painting. 

THE JEWS OF AMSTERDAM 

There are a great many Jews living in Amsterdam. 
Several years ago when the Jews were persecuted in 
Russia and the other countries of Europe, Holland of- 
fered them religious freedom and a haven of safety, so 
that many of them took up their residence in Amster- 
dam at that time, and their descendants are a thrifty 
part of the population now. 

There are two synagogues, one for the Orthodox 
Jews, the other for the Reformed Jews. These buildings 
are located near to each other and on Saturday, which 

265 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

is the Sabbath with our Jewish brothers, there are many 
people in the vicinity of these two places of worship. 
We happened to be there at that time and found the 
Jewish people in their best clothes — the women well 
dressed and the men mostly walking beneath high-topped 
silk hats. 

CUTTING AND POLISHING DIAMONDS 

Amsterdam has long been the center of the diamond 
cutting and polishing business. Ninety-eight per cent of 
all the diamonds of commerce produced at the present; 
time come from the mines near Kimberly in South 
Africa. Somehow or other the English appear to have 
gotten these mines away from the Dutch, but it appears 
that, before they could do so, the business of cutting 
and polishing the diamonds was very largely developed 
in Amsterdam, and, notwithstanding in late years a 
good deal of this work is done in London and Paris, 
and some in the United States, Amsterdam still holds its 
own in this industry. There are ten thousand people en- 
gaged in the cutting and polishing of diamonds in 
Amsterdam. 

The finishing of a diamond is not a complicated 
undertaking, but it requires skill. The factories where the 
diamonds are finished are not very pretentious structures. 
The work is usually done in old style houses which, evi- 
dently, were built as tenement houses. They are three or 
four stories high, and are usually built in blocks some- 
what after the fashion of tenement houses on the East 
Side of New York or in the poorer districts of any large 
city. As the workmen are divided up into groups of about 
eight or ten persons, the partitions and rooms appear 
to be left in the houses just as they were at the time they 

266 



CUTTING DIAMONDS 

were occupied as living rooms. The American idea of a 
factory is a large, airy building with big rooms where 
hundreds of people work amid flying belts and whirling 
machinery. These diamond factories are the reverse of 
this. 

As before stated, the men work in small groups in 
small rooms. In the factory we visited we were shown 
into one of these small rooms where there were six 
diamond polishers working under the direction of one 
foreman. Each man sat before a steel disc a foot in 
diameter which turned horizonally, at the rate of about 
three thousand revolutions per minute, being driven by 
an electric motor. The foreman had a little box of dia- 
monds which had been counted out, weighed up, and 
charged to him. He operated a little gas furnace in 
which he heated pieces of lead, about an inch in diameter, 
in iron receptacles until they were warm enough to be 
pliable, then with his fingers, with the skill that a 
plumber uses in making a lead joint, he would work the 
chunk of lead into about the shape of a large straw- 
berry, and would imbed the diamond in the point 
thereof. It was peculiar how he could bring this lead 
to just the degree of heat which left it neither solid nor 
melted, but about as soft as putty, how skillfully he 
could shape this with his fingers, and how nicely he 
could set the diamond in the point of his creation. 

After thus setting the diamond he would allow the 
little receptacle with its lead setting to cool ; it was then 
placed in a small frame of iron which he would turn 
over to the grinder or polisher. The polisher would 
have about four of the diamonds prepared in this way 
resting on his disc at one time, and would keep constant 

267 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

watch on them to see when the stone had been ground 
down to a proper level. As the stone rested on the disc 
and the disc revolved, the surface was covered with oil 
mixed with diamond dust, and, in the course of time, 
a flat surface resulted from the grinding on that part of 
the diamond which came in contact with the disc. The 
work is apparently simple, and, in fact, would be so if 
there were only one place on a diamond to be flattened 
and polished. But as the ordinary diamond, cut in 
what is known as the brilliant form, has a flat table sur- 
face surrounded by thirty-two facets on the upper side 
or face, and twenty-four facets on the back, all brought 
to a point, it appears that the diamond must be set 
and reset, ground and reground fifty-six different times 
before it is completed. 

It will be realized, therefore, that to finish the dia- 
mond in a proper shape with all the facets in exact pro- 
portion, one to the other, requires wonderful skill on 
the part of the man who sets the little stone in its lead 
holder and the polisher who grinds it just enough to 
make it exactly right. It is a wonder, under the circum- 
stances, how the work can be done and diamonds sold at 
as low prices as they bring even at the present time. 

Diamonds finished in the rose form are much 
cheaper for the same diameter than those cut in the bril- 
liant form, for the rose diamonds require only about half 
the grinding that is given to a brilliant diamond, and, 
being flat on the back, have only about one-third the 
weight of a brilliant of the same diameter. 

Even some of the diamonds cut in the brilliant form 
are quite shallow, and, while of as good quality, should 
be sold at a lower rate than those which are perfectly 
formed, and which are much thicker through the center. 

268 



IN THE COUNTRY 

A great many Americans buy diamonds in Amster- 
dam and some of them pay more for them than they 
would be asked for them at home. Perhaps if we had 
reached Amsterdam during the early part of our trip, 
we might have bought diamonds, but, as we had been 
several weeks on our travels before we came to this city, 
we had almost reached that point where we were more 
likely to sell diamonds than to buy them, so we only 
looked at them in their purity and brilliancy and left 
them just where we found them. 

The houses of Amsterdam are somewhat pictur- 
esque, have fancy fronts, high-peaked roofs, nice cur- 
tains and clean windows. The city is an interesting 
place to visit, and we were glad that we found our way 
thither. 

OUT IN THE COUNTRY 

The large cities of all countries are somewhat simi- 
lar. The conveniences of travel and the exchange of 
ideas nowadays are such that any innovations adopted 
in one part of the world soon find their way into the 
larger cities of every civilized portion of the globe, so 
that the same styles prevail largely in the metropolitan 
cities of all countries. To study the manners and cus- 
toms of any country and to see the people as they are 
pictured in their native haunts, one must leave the 
larger centers and go into the interior. If we had not 
known this already, we certainly would have discovered 
it in a short excursion which we enjoyed into the interior 
of Holland and over to the island of Marken, which is 
located in the Zuyder Zee. 

We left the wharf at Amsterdam on a little steamer 
which carried us to the farther side of the river where 

269 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

we embarked on a miniature railway train that ran 
along the embankment of a canal, and carried us to a 
town called Broek. This is a center where they make a 
great deal of Edam cheese. Edam is another village 
which we went through during the same day, but, for 
some reason or other, the industry of making Edam 
cheese nourishes to a greater extent in Broek than it 
does in the town from which it takes its name. We took 
advantage of our opportunity and saw how the Hol- 
landers make cheese. 

COUNTRY HOUSES 

The place where it is turned out is an institution 
embracing a residence, a barn, a dormitory for the la- 
borers and a cheese factory, all in one building. The 
family live in the front, the cows live in the back, and 
the laborers sleep in the loft. In summer the cows are 
sent into the fields, where they make their permanent 
home until the cold weather of the autumn. In the 
meantime, the barn is arranged for the reception of the 
visitors, of which they have a great many during the 
summer season. 

We entered the front of the house into a little hall 
on one side of which were the living rooms, which were 
scrupulously clean. All Hollanders in the country 
wear wooden shoes and when they come into the 
house the shoes are kicked off and left outside 
the door, so that there is never any mud tracked into 
the living rooms. The natives all go in with their feet 
enclosed only in their heavy woolen stockings. As. 
their names are usually painted on their shoes, they can 
tell whose are which when they come out. We did not 
go through the formality of removing our leather shoes 

270 



COUNTRY HOUSES 

but walked right into the house with them on just the 
same as we would in our own country. 

A Dutch residence is very oddly "architected" and 
contrived, and the display of blue porcelain in the 
shape of plates and saucers with pictures on them, is 
the chief pride of the women. It seemed that every 
house we went into had enough of these old-style plates 
to stock up a good sized boarding house. It is a recent 
fad in America to run a plate rail around the dining 
room on which fancy plates, which are never used, are 
displayed, but the people in the most humble houses in 
Holland can give our people pointers on the plate rail, 
for they have maintained them for generations in nearly 
every one of their houses, there sometimes being two or 
three of the rails, one above the other, and all crowded 
with picture dishes in grand display. 

In this house and in the other houses which we 
visited in this part of Holland, we found no bedrooms 
such as are found in the ordinary dwelling, but in the 
place of them are little niches or receptacles built in the 
sides of the rooms about as large as a lower berth in a 
Pullman sleeping car. They are cut off from the living 
room by lace curtains and drapery, and at first sight 
one of them might be taken for a miniature stage for a 
children's playhouse. It appeared to me that there was 
not much chance for ventilation in one of these berths, 
but as the winters are always cold in Holland and it 
never gets hot in summer, and the Dutch do not appar- 
ently need much fresh air, they seem to get along all 
right. The walls are papered with highly colored figured 
wall paper and adorned with quaint pictures of "ye 
olden times." 

271 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Passing through the little hall we had entered, we 
eame to the cows' barn on the ground floor, with stalls 
on one side and the cheese factory on the other. The 
whole interior of the place was whitewashed and pre- 
sented a very neat and clean appearance. The main 
floor of the barn was carpeted with a substantial ingrain 
carpet in which a bright red predominated. In con- 
nection with the loft, which was devoted to the storing 
of hay, were the sleeping bunks for the workmen of the 
place. The gentleman in charge informed us that when 
the barns were occupied by the cows the carpets were 
taken up and put away for the next season, when they 
are put down again for the benefit of visitors such as we. 
We felt some pride in the fact that we were given this 
additional compliment above that bestowed upon the 
cows, which are the chief pride of the Hollanders. 

NOW FOR THE CHEESE 

The making of cheese is rather a complicated under- 
taking, and requires considerable skill and patience. 
What interested me most, however, was the formation of 
that pattern of Edam cheese which resembles a pine- 
apple. I presume there are not many people in the 
United States that know how this luscious cheese is 
brought to the perfect shape and covered with the deli- 
cate carving which it bears when it is on sale in our 
country which makes it resemble so much the fruit of the 
tropics. 

The process of shaping it, however, is rather simple. 
There are two patterns in which Edam cheese is sent to 
the market, one is the round ball of a pink color, and 
the other is the pineapple form in the natural color of 
the cheese. When the cheese is made and before fully so- 

272 




ISLAND OF MARKEN, HOLLAND. 

"Here we came upon a people more picturesque than any we had met 
previously." — Page 274. 



NOW FOR THE CHEESE 

lidified, it is placed in a mold which shapes it into a 
round ball. A considerable pressure is put upon the 
mold so that the cheese comes out firm and round. With 
a delicate dye it is then colored to the pink shade which 
appears to be so popular. As there is always a demand 
for the pineapple form, some of these round balls are 
taken when they are in a pliable state and placed in a 
netting bag made of rather coarse twine woven the same 
as that used in the making of a hammock or a fish net. 
This little netting or satchel, as it might be called, just 
fits the cheese. 

After the cheese is placed in it a draw-string at the 
top is drawn up just as ladies draw up the top of a little 
work bag. It is then hung on a hook in the wall and a 
chunk of iron is hung onto the bottom of the net. The 
weight of this iron being considerable, draws down the 
bottom of the net and presses the cord, of which it is 
made, into the surface of the cheese, and it is allowed 
to hang that way until it has become sufficiently solidi- 
fied to hold its own, when it is taken out of its little 
satchel, the rough corners trimmed off, and you have the 
bright yellow pineapple that is so well liked by people 
in all parts of the world. 

I was delighted to see this process, for I had long 
wondered how they formed these so symmetrically as 
they do. I was sorry, after seeing this process, and 
seeing how simple it was, that I had not visited a maca- 
roni factory while in Italy to learn how they bored the 
holes lengthwise through the long macaroni sticks which 
they turn out in that country. Maybe the process is 
just as simple. 

After leaving Broek we went on through the country 

273 

—18 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

where there were thousands of spotted cows which also 
are always seen in pictures of Holland. These cows are 
covered with black and white spots in all sizes and 
shapes, the black part of their coat of the very deepest 
dye, and the white part as white as could be imagined. 
These cows must be famous for the quality of the milk 
they produce for making cheese, as cheese-making ap- 
pears to be a very important industry in Holland. They 
turn out all kinds of cheese in Holland, and just a little 
below Holland is the province of Limburg, the home of 
the greatest of all cheeses, which is known as Limburger. 
I will not stop here to say anything about Limburger 
cheese, as those who have had any experience with it will 
know that it is able to speak for itself. 

WHO'S YOUR TAILOR? 

We came to Monnickendam and took a boat for 
Marken. The island of Marken is just above the sur- 
face of the sea, and, in high water times, is entirely 
covered except within the levees or dikes around the 
little village of the same name as the island. 

Here we came upon a people that were more pictur- 
esque than any we had met previously. They all wore 
wooden shoes and the men wore full-legged trousers 
which were held up by suspenders attached by big solid 
silver buttons as large around and as heavy as Ameri- 
can silver dollars. The only thing these men appear to 
be proud of in the way of dress is their shining silver 
buttons and the number of patches on their trousers. 
The more patches and the more different colors and the 
more conspicuous these patches are on the trousers of a 
man, the louder they sing the praises of his good wife 
A man who has no patches on his trousers advertises 

274 



WHO'S YOUR TAILOR? 

to the world that his wife is not properly taking care of 
him, but if he has a hundred patches, it is an evidence 
to the world that his wife is just twenty-five per cent 
better than that of his neighbor who has only seventy- 
five patches on his trousers. 

The men wear faded blue or red tight fitting shirts 
or Jersey sweaters and as their trousers are wider in 
each leg than they are around the waist, they present an 
odd appearance, but they are no more odd in their dress 
than the women. 

The women wear very full wool skirts and close 
fitting waists with tight sleeves. They wear caps that 
fit their heads almost as closely as the scalp and their 
waists fit the upper part of their body like an eel skin, 
but from the waist down there is a surplus of stock that 
is remarkable. It would appear that each woman wears 
at least a dozen petticoats which leave off about eight 
inches above the ground, and which show to the best pos- 
sible advantage the two wooden shoes, each one about the 
size of a canal boat. 

The slight differences in the caps which they wear 
are the distinguishing features of different communities. 
The Marken caps have four layers, a white cotton foun- 
dation with a cheap lace frill in front, over which is a 
strip of coarse lace, and on top of all this the back and 
sides are covered with red Persian patterns of calico. 

Girls under fourteen years of age. wear their long 
hair down their backs and also in front of their ears. 
After they are fourteen years old the back hair is cut 
off even with the back of the cap and a long curl or 
plait is left hanging on the outside of the cap on each 
side of the face. 

275 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Boys up to eight years of age dress the same as 
girls, but after they have reached that age they wear the 
wide-legged trousers. The only difference between the 
dress of the girls and the dress of the boys before the 
age of eight years is that the boys wear a little rosette 
on the back of their tight-fitting caps. 

Nearly all the people who live on the island of 
Marken follow the industry of fishing for a living, and a 
large number of sail-boats rendezvous at this place. 
It seems to me that life on this island and under these 
circumstances would be very monotonous, but it is very 
fortunate that there are people who are content to live 
under such unromantic circumstances, that will go out 
into the ocean and gather fish, or go out into the fields 
and gather grain, or go into the mines and bring up coal 
and other necessities for the comfort of the rest of the 
world. 

The Hollanders are now engaged in a movement to 
drain the Zuyder Zee, a lake two-thirds as large as Lake 
Michigan, and which has floated some of the greatest 
war fleets of history. It will throw four thousand fisher- 
men out of a job, but will make homes for a million peo- 
ple, who will live, like many other Hollanders, below the 
level of the ocean. Cows will graze where fish now swim. 
Railroads will take the place of steamships, cities will 
arise where sea weeds now grow, and parks with brass 
bands will be found where frogs now croak their mid- 
night songs. 

THE ARTISTS' MECCA 

After spending a short time on the island of Mar- 
ken, we took a little steamer that was run by a gasoline 
engine, and came back to the mainland, and stopped at 
the village of Valendam for our dinner. 

276 



ON THE RAGING CANAL 

Valendam is a favorite place for all artists who go 
to Holland to paint pictures of the funny-looking Dutch, 
and the hotel at this place is a reflection of their many 
efforts in this line. The walls of the dining rooms and 
public parlors are almost completely covered with pic- 
tures of all shapes, sizes, colors and characteristics. 
While some of them are remarkably good, others are 
equally bad. Some of them were left there for sale 
and have never found a market, others, perhaps, were 
left there for unpaid board bills, and others were left 
out of compliment to the good people who keep the 
tavern, for they set a most excellent meal, ending it off 
with a bountiful portion of cheese of a very good 
quality. 

ON THE RAGING CANAL 

Between Valendam and Edam, which was our next 
stop, the means of transportation was by houseboats. 
As the party numbered by this time some thirty or forty 
people, and these houseboats were about the size of 
an ordinary dry goods box, it took several of them to 
transport us along the way. The little cabins, which 
were painted white with green trimmings, looked very 
cozy, but their roofs were so low that it was impossible 
for a tall man to sit up straight, and a woman who wore 
a hat with high trimmings on it had to rest in a very 
devotional and subdued attitude as the trip progressed. 
A few of us sat on top of the cabin, but as the boats were 
so small there was some danger of capsizing them. 

Each boat was towed through the canal by two 
husky men and in this manner our fleet proceeded on its 
watery bed until we came to Edam. Aside from the 
cramped position of the people inside of the boats, the 
little houseboats proved a very comfortable mode of 

277 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

travel, but it seemed to me pretty hard on the fellows 
that pulled them through the canal. I offered to get 
off and walk but they would not hear to that and, I 
think, had a suspicion that I wanted to walk in order to 
avoid giving them a tip for their labor at the end of 
their journey. 

WHO'S A-KNOCKING AT THE DOOR? 

We tracked over the village of Edam, which, by the 
way, is a good sized town, and came up in front of the 
principal hotel of the place, which had a sign designat- 
ing it as the "Dam Hotel." This appeared a startling 
name for a hotel, but it is offset by a rather pretentious 
hotel in the city of Amsterdam called the ' ' Bible Hotel ' ' 
and which has as a sign an open Bible carved in stone 
over the front door. It may be a source of satisfaction 
to my religious readers to know that the "Bible Hotel" 
is about five times as big as the ' ' Dam Hotel. ' ' 

There is one peculiarity that I noticed in Edam 
that seems general in the Holland towns. Nearly every 
house in this village has a small looking glass which ex- 
tends from the window frame of the window adjoining 
the front door. The houses have knockers on the doors 
and it appears that the persons who are living in the 
house go to the front window of the parlor and, by peer- 
ing through it, gaze into the little looking glass which 
extends out several inches from the window frame and 
see who is knocking at the door, and then they can be 
"at home" or not, just as they please. I should judge, 
from this arrangement, that the society ladies of Edam 
do not keep hired girls for, if they did, it would not be 
necessary to keep the looking glass extended from the 
window. They could just send the maid of all work to 

278 



ALL HARD WORKERS 

the front door, as I understand is sometimes done in our 
country, to inform an unwelcome visitor that the 
'"missus" of the house is not at home 

ALL HARD WORKERS 

In our trip we passed through a number of villages, 
most of which followed the Holland custom of ending 
with the word "dam." There are Edam, Monnicken- 
dam, Valendam, and some, the names of which are now 
faded from my memory. On our way through the 
country we passed hundreds of the great windmills 
which are continually working for the people of Holland 
and which every year raise a great amount of water out 
of the lowlands and send it out into the open sea, mak- 
ing Holland a dry country instead of a dismal swamp, 
which it would be if it were allowed to stand in its nat- 
ural state. 

Next to the windmills, the most wonderful workers 
of the Hollanders are the dogs. They have all kinds of 
dog teams and dog carts, and, while the Hollanders 
work pretty hard themselves, I believe, in the long run, 
they give the dogs the worst of it. When they have 
loads to haul they make the dogs haul the loads, and 
when they do not have loads to haul, they sit up in the 
carts and ride while the dogs work just the same. 

There is no more interesting place to visit that I 
know of than the villages and the rural people of Hol- 
land. You are among people who are picturesque to a 
considerable degree; a people who have contended for 
every day's existence from the time they were old 
enough to enter into the battle of life ; a people that are 
remarkably economical and very industrious. They are 
noted for their patience and untiring capacity for labor 

279 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

and for having made much of the little part of the world 
which has been given to them for their home. 

My advice to anybody who has the time would be 
to make a trip into Holland, and, if you ever go to Hol- 
land, do not go only to the large cities, but make a trip 
through their interior, through their villages, and to 
the island of Marken, for it is here that you will see 
these people as they are pictured in books and as they 
are known in history. You will see them in their native 
quaintness and in the glory of their dress of many 
colors, and you will always congratulate yourself that 
you did not pass by on the other side without stopping 
to mingle with them. 

THE HAGUE 

After finishing our visit at Amsterdam we went by 
rail to The Hague, the capital of Holland. This name, 
with its prefix, always struck me as being particularly 
odd, and yet there seems to be some reason for the name 
being in its present shape. The Dutch name of the place 
was formerly 'S Gravenhaag, which signifies "the 
Count's hedge, grove, or wood." The location of the 
city was formerly a hunting seat belonging to the 
Counts of Holland, and was overgrown with a grove 
or timber, called a hedge, hence the name The Hague, 
as now used, would be in English The Hedge. 

It was made the residence of the court and the seat 
of government of the Netherlands about the beginning 
of the last century, and the town has risen to great im- 
portance since that time, being a beautiful place with a 
population of about a quarter of a million people. It 
has a low temperature, averaging 65% degrees in sum- 
mer and about 38 degrees in winter. It is a quaint and, 

280 



THE HAGUE 

at the same time, a very beautiful city and is very much, 
up-to-date. 

It has a library containing four hundred thousand 
volumes and on Saturday night the display of electric 
lights in the business center is as brilliant as that of any 
town of its size, even in America. It has a remarkable 
display of paintings and art works in the Royal Gallery 
by Rembrandt, Paul Potter and other celebrated artists. 
The two most celebrated paintings are the "School of 
Anatomy" by Rembrandt, and the "Young Bull" by 
Paul Potter. 

This thing of art is peculiar and it is hard to tell 
just how a picture achieves so great a value as some of 
them do. I have had something to say along this line in 
previous letters, and this is another case where it struck 
me as being somewhat remarkable. 

This picture by Potter is the picture of an ordinary 
bull of a little less than the average size of such animals. 
I should judge from looking at the picture of this bull, 
which seems to be copied from nature, that the original 
animal would not in the open market sell for more than 
forty dollars, and yet, I presume this picture of it would 
be considered cheap and snapped up quickly at a price 
of forty thousand dollars. 

Isn't it a little odd that a picture would bring a 
thousand times as much as the article itself is worth, 
and yet, this may be the same in regard to other things 
and persons. I guess- there are some people that are not 
worth one-thousandth part of what their pictures would 
cost, and, even then, the pictures would not have to be 
valued at a very high rate. 

In the center of the city, in place of a park, there 
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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

is a large body of water surrounded by a stone wall. 
There is a little island in the center of this, .and a few 
boats for pleasure are used on its surface. At the time 
we were there the surface of the little lake was sprinkled 
with wild ducks, or tame ducks that could fly equally as 
well as wild ones, which, I presume, would amount to 
about the same thing. 

THE PALACE IN THE WOODS 

Adjoining the city is the Eoyal Palace, commonly 
alluded to as "The Palace in the "Woods." It is sur- 
rounded by flowers, vines, trees, lakes and lagoons, and 
presents a beautiful appearance, but is not considered 
a very healthy place to live, and for that reason is only 
occupied by the royal family occasionally. The park 
or woods surrounding it is one of the best pieces of 
timber land that we came into in all Europe. It is 
crowded with large trees and is traversed by well-kept 
sandy roads. It makes a beautiful drive and the palace 
makes it an interesting place, for it was here that the 
first international peace conference was held. 

The first congress was called at the instance of the 
czar of Russia. Things seem to go by contraries, for 
about the close of the first conference Nicholas, the czar, 
engaged in his war with Japan, and, between that and 
the revolutions that have followed in Russia since then, 
the czar has had about all he could do to look after 
peace at home, as exemplified by the sword, but the other 
nations have taken up the work, and several conferences 
have been held in The Hague since that time. These 
conferences have brought The Hague into more promi- 
nence than anything else in connection with its history, 
and, as the corner stone has been laid for the new 

282 



A HAGUE HOTEL 

Temple of Peace, which is being erected in this city, 
The Plague may be proud of its position in this great 
step in advance in the affairs of nations. If a system of 
international arbitration and universal peace can be es- 
tablished for the world in this old town, the birth of such 
a movement will confer an honor upon the capital of the 
Dutch republic second only to that birth which occurred 
nearly two thousand years ago in Bethlehem of Judea. 

A HAGUE HOTEL 

We stopped at an odd hotel in this city. It was full 
of odd nooks and corners, the windows were draped with 
many curtains, the floors were covered with several 
thicknesses of carpets and rugs, and we were given little 
feather beds to sleep under. The furniture was hand- 
carved, of the vintage of several centuries ago, but the 
eating and drinking were as good as the hotel was odd. 
The dining room was a large porch enclosed with glass, 
filled with flowers, and over it vines trailed beautifully 
and the garden adjoining it was full of bright flowers 
and singing birds. 

The hotel was three stories high and we were located 
on the top story. I called the landlord 's attention to the 
fact that he had no elevator. He said that he was aware 
of that, but that he had not had time yet to put it in, 
as he was pretty busy and the house was only opened 
five hundred years ago. He thought, however, that 
within a few centuries more he would probably put in 
an up-to-date elevator and some other modern conven- 
iences. 

WORSE THAN DEATH 

The museum at The Hague has some instruments 
in it that are a striking contrast as compared with the 

283 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

movement of the angel of peace that is now trying to 
alight in this place. Among the things shown in the 
museum we noted a number of instruments of torture 
which were used in Holland in the long ago. One of 
them is one of those contrivances all full of sharp 
points, a sort of suit of armor with the spikes on the 
inside, in which a human being was placed and then the 
thing was wound up gradually and the spikes driven 
into the body by slow degrees until torture became un- 
bearable and the sweet rest of death commenced where 
the torture of life left off. 

Another instrument of torture was one into which 
the hands and feet were both locked and then by a 
process of screws and levers that all pulled in opposite 
directions the limbs were torn from the body. There 
were quite a number of instruments displayed here 
equally as bad as these. The people who live at the 
present time hardly realize the inconvenience of living 
in the good old days which are made famous in history 
by such tortures as were used centuries ago. 

A SEASIDE RESORT 

White at The Hague we drove out to Scheveningen. 
This is the great bathing place of all Holland, and is 
patronized by the people of Germany, England and 
other countries. It is reached by a drive through a beau- 
tiful wooded park which has roads for carriages, auto- 
mobiles and bicycles, beautiful footpaths and electric car 
lines. It is one of the finest drives which I have ever 
enjoyed and I was surprised when I reached the bath- 
ing resort to see the remarkably fine hotels and the 
number of people who were enjoying the place. 

Scheveningen holds the same relation, I presume, 

284 



A SEASIDE RESORT 

to Holland that Newport does to the United States. A 
substantial levee protects the town and the hotels from 
the North Sea. Between this levee and the water of the 
sea, especially when the tide is low, there is a wide, level 
beach of clean sand. There were hundreds of people 
enjoying the bathing at this place and hundreds more 
enjoying the view, being protected from the sun and 
the wind by peculiar willow woven chairs with backs 
enclosing them all around except the front. For about 
a mile along the front these coops were located with their 
faces toward the sea and the back toward the levee, 
along which we passed, and they presented an odd and 
interesting picture. It was a pleasant Sunday when we 
were there, and it looked as though half the people from 
The Hague had come over to enjoy the beauties of the 
place and the comfort of the magnificent sea bathing 
which is afforded here. 

The people of these countries have a great idea of 
recreation on the Sabbath. While the Sabbath was 
given to us as a day of rest, these people make the best 
of it in resting from labor by indulging in pleasure, 
which to them seems to answer the definition of rest. In 
any event, no matter how they figure it, they appear 
to have an awful good time on Sunday, and you would 
be convinced of this if you visited the Holland seashore 
on a warm Sabbath morning. 



285 



Chapter XX 



"There was a sound of revelry by night, 
And Belgium's capital had gathered then." 

So Byron said, and so say we all, for, in the capital 
of Belgium, which is the city of Brussels, there seems to 
be a great many ' ' sounds of revelry. ' ' 

"We arrived in Brussels on a pretty Sunday evening 
and found the streets full of brilliant electric lights and 
numerous cafes where the tables were set along the sides 
of the pavement and hundreds of people were sitting at 
them eating and drinking. 

After fixing up and getting supper at a restaurant 
where there was not one waiter who understood the 
English language, and where we had great difficulty in 
directing them as to what our wants were, we retired 
for the night in a hotel on the main street of the city. 

Near midnight there was a greater sound of revelry 
than ever, and, being moved by curiosity, I arose from 
my bed and took a position in the little balcony where 
I could overlook almost the entire length of the street. 
The long lines of street lights shone resplendently, and, 
as the number of people on the street was remarkable 
for that time of night, it seemed like a very lively place. 

The particular sound that attracted my attention 
was made by a brass band, the musicians being seated on 
bicycles, and wending their way through the streets, fol- 
lowed by two or three hundred people singing songs in 

286 



IN BELGIUM 

loud voices. I think it was the first time I had ever seen 
a band riding on bicycles, but this appeared to be a pe- 
culiarity of Belgium and the city of Brussels, for in the 
Floral Procession, which took place the next day, there 
were five bands mounted in this manner. 

On general principles I should think that a bicycle 
would be about the poorest conveyance for a man en- 
gaged in blowing a horn that could well be imagined, yet 
they handled themselves in better shape and made bet- 
ter music than would seem probable. The musicians 
who played the small horns rode on ordinary bicycles 
which they guided with one hand, while with the other 
they held the horn and played it as a bugler does when 
mounted on a horse in a cavalry regiment. In the mat- 
ter of the very large horns and drums, the musicians 
were supplied with tandem bicycles on which one man 
occupied the front seat and guided the conveyance, while 
the other man, seated on the back, beat the drum or blew 
the horn as well as though he had been walking or 
riding in a band chariot. 

It was a jolly, lively scene, and, as they passed the 
hotel, I think they aroused nearly all the foreigners, 
who were not used to such processions at midnight, and, 
after it had passed and I took occasion to examine my 
surroundings, I found that I was not the only Romeo 
located in the balcony, for at the window next to me 
was a fleshy Juliet, dressed in the same late style that 
I chanced to wear at that hour of the night. As I 
looked at her she looked at me and we both realized the 
situation at the same time and we both retired in a hasty 
manner through our open windows. "We were not the 
only ones, however, as there were a number of others 
in about the same costumes. 

287 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Several of these singing processions passed during 
the night and the particular hotel in which we were lo- 
cated seemed a better place for the study of music than 
for the purpose of sleeping, if one happened to have a 
front room. 

A BIG LITTLE COUNTRY 

Belgium is a little country of big things. It is 
from here that we get the heavy Belgium draft horses 
which are quite popular in all parts of the world, and 
the prominence which they give live stock, both in the 
way of horses and cattle, places it well in the front rank 
in those particulars. 

Its greatest length is only one hundred and seventy- 
four miles and its area is 11,373 square miles, or about 
one-fifth the size of the state of Illinois. Being bounded 
by Holland, Germany, Luxemburg and France, it is 
difficult to place the nationality of the people by their 
appearance, as they seem to partake of all the character- 
istics of the several peoples named. Ordinarily in Bel- 
gium the French language is spoken. 

BRUSSELS THE CAPITAL 

The city which we call Brussels, but which is spelled 
Bruxelles, is the capital, and has a population of over 
500,000. It is a pretty town and is sometimes alluded to 
as ' ' The Little Paris, ' ' for the houses and the customs of 
the people are similar to those of the capital of the 
French Eepublic. 

It is remarkable for some very fine buildings, and 
its Grande Place, which is an open square in front of 
the city hall, is said to be one of the finest centers in 
Europe. On the other side of this square are the ancient 
royal palace and a number of houses with dates showing 

288 



BRUSSELS 

that they were erected several centuries ago. Their 
fronts are embellished with pure gold leaf that has 
defied the elements all these years. Band concerts are 
given on this plaza by a magnificent musical organiza- 
tion. 

There are many fountains and monuments in the 
city of Brussels, and the monument to Leopold I. is one 
of the grandest ever erected to a single individual. 

There is a Palace of Justice of modern architecture 
here, having been built a few years ago, which is one 
of the finest and, perhaps, the very finest building on 
the face of the globe devoted to the administration of 
justice. The Palace of Justice is said to have cost 
nearly ten millions of dollars. It is full of law courts 
and, of course, is the rendezvous of many lawyers. 

The lawyers, or barristers, when they appear in 
court, wear black gowns such as are worn by the Justices 
of the Supreme Court in Washington, D. C, and caps 
shaped with bands around the head with a larger top 
above, similar to the coverings ordinarily worn by Greek 
priests. While they look odd to us, it must be confessed 
that it gives the Court considerable dignity and it is 
quite likely that a lawyer who appears to argue a case 
with such a garb can charge a larger fee with an easier 
conscience than one who enters into Court as they do in 
our country, wearing no insignia of their profession, 
and usually dressed with a bob-tail coat. 

I presume that the Brussels carpet originated in the 
capital of Belgium, and yet, for some years, that city 
has not exported to the United States more than a few 
thousand dollars ' worth of carpets, but we get from this 
country large quantities of plate glass, cement, linens 
and laces. 

289 

—19 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

THE STONY STREETS 

Nearly all the streets of Brussels are paved with 
granite blocks, there being but a small amount of asphalt 
pavement. These streets are probably in the same con- 
dition they were in at the time Byron wrote his poem, 
from which the first lines of this article are a quotation, 
for, it will be remembered, further down in that same 
poem it reads something like this: 

"Did ye not hear it? 
No, 'twas but the wind, or the cars 
Rattling o'er the stony streets; 
On, on with the dance, 
Let joy be unconfined." 

I should think that the cars, the carts or the cabs 
rattle in the stony streets of Brussels to-day just as they 
rattled in those days, and they do rattle, for few of the 
vehicles have rubber tires, and riding is particularly un- 
comfortable. 

Just at the outskirts of the city is the more modern 
royal palace and the grounds surrounding it, which is 
the residence of the present king of Belgium, Leopold 
III. In additon to the palace, which is a large mansion, 
well guarded by soldiers, the king has erected a Chinese 
pagoda in which it is said he has a large number of 
Chinese and Japanese works of art. 

The pagoda is an immense structure and, if one 
were not acquainted with its purpose, it might be sup- 
posed that he had captured one of the attractions of the 
midway or pike at some world's fair, and placed it near 
his palace for his own amusement. 

THE FLOWER PARADE 

The second day after our arrival in Brussels was 

290 



HOTELS AND CAFES 

the annual Flower day, on which there is a grand floral 
procession in the public park and the awarding of 
prizes. 

I never have seen so many flowers at one time as 
were exhibited that day. Some of the carriages were 
beautifully decorated and other attractions of the pro- 
cession were very interesting. They awarded a great 
many prizes for, as the procession came away from the 
judge's stand, those who had won a prize displayed a 
flag on their vehicles as evidence of their victory. The 
first prize carriage was trimmed and ornamented with 
white ostrich feathers, being nearly covered with them, 
in addition to some natural flowers. Besides the car- 
riages, there were pony carts, people riding on horse- 
back, bicycles, tricycles, etc. Some of the bicycles were 
fixed up in the shape of floral ships, with one or two per- 
sons riding in the center, and were ingenious and pretty 
contrivances. 

A small Jap, a member of the Japanese envoy, 
riding on a pony, captured a prize, but the driver of our 
rig said, after looking it over, that he thought it was 
awarded more as a matter of policy than because the 
young man deserved it because of his decorations. 

There were a large number of bands in the proces- 
sion, some walking, some in band wagons, and, as I 
stated before, five of them were mounted on bicycles. 

HOTELS AND CAFES 

The hotels of Brussels as well as the cafes are bril- 
liant and rather fast centers of style. The custom which 
prevails in all European countries of occupying a large 
portion of the sidewalks, and even the streets, with 
tables on which refreshments are served, is largely in- 

291 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

dulged in in this city. On the main thoroughfares of 
the city the sidewalks in front of the hotels are very 
wide, and there is a repast or drinking bout going on all 
the time, and especially during the hours of the night, 
and when the band plays in the Grande Place, which is 
paved with stone, there are hundreds of people at tables 
occupying the square even to the exclusion of the horses 
and carriages. 

Around the restaurants and hotels there are many 
finely dressed women, and in the parlor or reading room 
of one of the hotels, I was somewhat startled by seeing 
a very fashionably dressed woman sit down nearby, open 
her case, take out a cigarette, which she lit and smoked 
evidently with great relish. This is not uncommon, 
however, in the hotels of Belgium or Paris. 

The disposal of wines in the hotels of Europe, and 
especially of Brussels and cities of its class, comprises 
a large part of the hotel business. The publisher of the 
"Hotel World," who has recently made a trip through 
Europe, in which he paid particular attention to the 
hotels, wrote regarding Belgium that one of the hotels 
there carried an average stock of wines and liquors 
amounting to $125,000. I should think that this was 
not an overestimate, because the way things were 
proceeding when we were in Brussels, even this much 
stock would not last a great while. 

Most of the streets in Brussels are well laid out, and 
are wide enough for all ordinary purposes, but some of 
them are very narrow and crooked. I think some of 
them are so narrow that when you want to turn around 
in them you have to back into a store to do so, and they 
are so crooked that you do not know where you are go- 
ing until you get there. 

292 



CRAZY MAN'S GALLERY 

The buildings of the city comprise all schools of 
architecture, all ages of construction, and all national- 
ities in their characteristics, making of Brussels one of 
the most interesting cities in the whole of Europe. 

THE CRAZY MAN'S GALLERY 

There are several art galleries in Brussels, but one 
of them, called the Wirts Gallery or the Crazy Man's 
Gallery, contains the oddest and most grotesque collec- 
tion of pictures that we found in all Europe. I think 
all the pictures in this gallery are the product of one 
artist, who patiently toiled year after year so that he 
might leave this odd collection to the public. They are 
evidently works of very high art, but the oddity of some 
of them and the intensity of others causes the spectator 
to laugh and shudder at very close intervals. There are 
men tearing and eating each other, drinking blood, the 
devil scourging people into hell, and war scenes among 
the devil and the angels. Some of them are so true to 
life that you can almost imagine that they move while 
you are looking at them; others are surrounded in dark 
corners and the wonderful effects of light and shade are 
intensified by the arrangement for looking at them 
through little peep-holes in the sides of the stalls in 
which the pictures are located. 

I do not know whether the artist was crazy when he 
painted these pictures or not, but he painted them so 
vividly and was so wonderful in his conceptions, that 
almost everybody thinks he is crazy. However, it is 
better to be thought crazy if you are running in the 
right direction than to have people think you are sane 
when you are doing nothing. 

This thing of thinking people crazy is a peculiar 
293 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

idea. I remember once of asking about a man that lived 
in a neighboring town, who, owing to the number of 
troubles he had, was sometimes said to be crazy. I 
asked one of the citizens of the town if that man was 
crazy. He answered by saying, "I do not think he is 
crazy, but he is so absolutely mean that most of the peo- 
ple think he is crazy, which amounts to about the same 
thing. ' ' 

There is one thing certain, whether this artist was 
crazy or not, he certainly knew how to paint pictures, 
for of all the galleries which we visited while in Europe, 
I think this one collection of pictures made the most 
lasting impression upon me. 

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 

The battlefield of Waterloo is a few miles south of 
Brussels, and we paid a visit to it while stopping in that 
city. It was here that Napoleon met his final defeat 
and the battle of Waterloo is counted one of the great 
decisive battles of the world's history, and was practi- 
cality the end of the first Napoleon's regime. Where 
the battle was fought, with the exception of a small 
piece of ground which is owned by the government of 
Belgium, the grounds are now used for farms just as 
they were in the year 1815, when the battle took place. 

A large artificial mound which requires two or three 
hundred steps to reach its top, has been erected, and on 
its apex is a large figure of a lion, made of iron or 
bronze, resting on a stone base. This mound was built 
by direction of the English, the labor being done by 
women who worked for a few cents a day, and carried 
all the earth of which the great mound is constructed. 
From the top of this mound a magnificent view of the 

294 



WATERLOO 

battlefield can be had. There are a few unpretentious 
monuments which have been erected to commemorate the 
valor of certain armies that took part in this great 
battle. Aside from these there are only a few structures 
upon the field, most of which are brick or stone houses, 
that stood amid the wreck and ruin when these fields 
were the center of the scene of carnage. 

Napoleon and his troops made two serious blunders 
in the fighting of this battle, which did much to bring 
about their defeat. Sunning between the fields was a 
narrow road which was cut deep, with the sides almost 
perpendicular. The French troops, not being familiar 
with this road, and assuming that the ground was level, 
made a mad charge at the enemy who were located be- 
yond this depression. When the advance line reached 
the bank of the roadway they were forced forward by 
their comrades in the rear and fell into the break by 
the thousands. It is said that the roadway at one or 
more places was filled with the struggling army until 
the soldiers in the rear could pass over to the other side 
on the bodies of the fallen. The loss of life was deplor- 
able. 

Another mistake on the part of the French was 
caused by a brick wall standing among some timber. 
The English were entrenched behind this brick wall 
through which they had cut port holes for the purpose 
of picking off the enemy and of meeting any charge 
which might be made upon them. As the timber and 
underbrush was somewhat thick and clustered, the 
French mistook the red brick for the red coats of the 
English soldiers and wasted much ammunition upon 
this invincible barricade. 

295 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

A peculiar incident, however, in regard to this wall 
is brought to mind by a single grave covered with 
a heavy slab, in which the body of a soldier has 
rested all these years. It appears that this is the body 
of the soldier who suggested to the English commander 
the idea of cutting port holes in the brick wall and mak- 
ing that a line of defense. His suggestion was carried 
cut to great advantage, but during the battle he lost his 
life by being shot by a bullet which passed through one 
of these holes which he had suggested. 

There is an old brick farm house or chateau at the 
further end of the battle ground which was one of the 
storm centers of the battle. The same bricks are in the 
wall now that were there at that time, and they are 
badly chipped and broken by the bullets which were 
wasted upon them. An old lady with gray hair, who 
seemed to be French, but who spoke the English lan- 
guage fairly well, showed us about the premises. 

This house has been immortalized by being the 
central figure in one of the most intense and popular 
pictures ever made of the battle of Waterloo. The old 
lady explained the various incidents in connection with 
the battle; showing us where the cannon had mowed 
down the men and where they had destroyed portions 
of the old chateau. She also showed us the great well 
which, during the battle, was completely filled with the 
bodies of the soldiers who were slain. 

Nor was the old lady so slow to see a point as might 
have been imagined. Coming to the grove she said that 
right here was where Napoleon made one of his most se- 
rious blunders, just under, as she explained, "a large 
horse chestnut tree." A gentleman in our party re- 

296 



WATERLOO 

marked that that was a "horse on Napoleon," to which 
she responded very quickly, "The American man he 
make great joke. No flies on the American man." 

There is an old retired English officer who de- 
livers a lecture on the battle of Waterloo at the mon- 
ument, whenever he has an audience. He grows quite 
eloquent as he describes the charges and counter charges 
and the great climax of the battle. It is a very inter- 
esting story that he tells, and one cannot but be im- 
pressed as he listens to what seems to be a true version 
of the great struggle that brought about Napoleon's 
overthrow. 

As darkness came down on the evening of June 18, 
1815, at the conclusion of the battle of Waterloo, some- 
thing like fifty thousand men lay dead or dying upon 
these plains. It was a sorrowful scene. The marks of 
the wicked shell and shot were in evidence in every di- 
rection. 

But the day we were there the scene was so dif- 
ferent, it was calm and peaceful and beautiful. The 
fields were overgrown with the greenest of coverings, 
beautiful hedges marked the divisions of the farms and 
the borders of the roads. The trees were in full foliage. 
The little white houses dotted here and there presented 
a marked contrast to the verdure with which they were 
surrounded. 

It does not seem possible that these fields could 
have at one time been the scene of such terror; that 
they had echoed and re-echoed to the crack of mus- 
ketry and the boom of cannon that sent so many to the 
death, and that these green carpets of nature had ac- 
tually been stained crimson with the blood of the dead 

297 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

and wounded. With the contemplation of the history 
of the great struggle, and with the speech of the old 
English major fresh in our minds, the scene of beauty 
and peace was very impressive. The fields seemed 
more lovely than I can describe in this letter in the few 
words at my command. 



298 



Chapter XXI 



PARIS 

Next to Rome I regard Paris as the most interesting 
city on the face of the globe, and, in some respects, it is 
more interesting than Rome. Paris has been the center 
of a good deal of history and has had much to do with 
shaping the affairs of the world. It is a more lively 
city than Rome, has more points of interest, and its 
great buildings, palaces and castles are in the best con- 
dition and not in a state of decay. There are more 
pleasing things to be seen in Paris than in Rome, more 
beautiful things to be seen in Paris than in Rome, and 
more life in Paris, perhaps, than in any other city in 
the world. There is so much to see in Paris and there 
are so many places to go, that, while we stayed there a 
matter of eight days, we felt when we left that we had 
hardly seen enough of Paris to say we had been there 
at all. "We left so many things untouched, we felt our 
■visit was a failure, and yet, on further reflection, we 
would not have missed our stay in Paris for a good deal. 

Our introduction or entrance into Paris was hardly 
up to what might be expected as to the way any one 
would enter what is said to be the most aesthetic and the 
most beautiful city in the world. 

"We left Brussels on a good train in remarkably 
pleasant weather and at a very rapid rate came into 
Paris at one o'clock in the daytime. I think there are 

299 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

few trains in the United States that are very much bet- 
ter or that run any faster than this train on which we 
made the journey from Brussels to the capital of 
the French republic. We rolled into a large train shed, 
rather smoky and dingy, and possessing about the same 
characteristics as the ordinary train shed of any large 
railway station. One of the station ushers took our bag- 
gage in charge and, while we could not understand his 
language or he ours, we had no difficulty in following 
him to the cabstand. 

Our party at this time consisted of us two and a 
gentleman and his wife from California with whom we 
had traveled a considerable part of our time while in 
Europe. "We had the addresses of two or three hotels to 
which we had been recommended. When we arrived at 
the cabstand we found a most disreputable looking lot 
of little cabs of the Victoria pattern. They are called 
in this country taximeters, as the amount of the fare or 
tax is calculated by a little meter which is attached to 
the seat. Our French baggage hustler proceeded to the 
most dilapidated looking outfit in the lot and deposited 
our luggage therein. 

I would certainly be ashamed to be seen riding in 
such an outfit in my home town as that in which we 
started our journey for the hotel in the city of Paris. 
The horse was evidently old, very thin, with crooked, 
knotty legs, and presented a very woebegone appear- 
ance. While the vehicle was bad enough, the driver was 
no better. He was a little old man with bushy hair, his 
face so completely covered with whiskers tht he might 
have taken the part of "Jo- Jo, the Dog-Faced Man," 
in a county fair exhibition. He wore an overcoat and 

300 



PARIS 

a straw hat which had evidently weathered several seasons 
and which was tied to the button hole of his coat by a 
shoe string. His little vehicle was overcharged with 
ragged blankets, stuffy cushions and a feed bag for 
feeding his horse while waiting for business. 

In leaving the station for the hotel, the California 
people took the lead in another cab, and, by the use of 
a station interpreter, we directed our little man to fol- 
low the forward rig. "We struck out of the station onto 
the open street and, as it appears to be the rule in Paris 
for all cab horses to start on a jump, we went out in a 
very rapid manner. As we did so, the forward rig 
dashed down a street where a pavement was being re- 
paired and, as our driver started to follow, he was 
stopped by an officer of the law, who, I believe, in this 
country is called a gendarme. He persuaded our driver 
to start out another street. 

As I did not observe the officer and presuming that 
we would be lost in short order, I grabbed the driver 
over the seat by the shoulders and, by signs, directed 
him to follow the other rig. He made an effort to do so 
but was again prevented by the officer. As I could not 
see the officer from my seat, I grabbed the little man once 
more and tried to shake him into a realization of the 
fact that we wanted to follow our companions. He re- 
plied with many gesticulations and all kinds of funny 
words, which we could not understand, but positively 
refused to run over the gendarme or policeman who had 
intercepted his way, but went up the street as he was di- 
rected by the officer instead of by me. In the shake-up 
his hat came off and hung down his back and remained 
streaming in the air the entire distance to the center of 

301 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the city, his irregular and bushy hair cutting the air as 
he went. 

About this time a sudden rain came on and, as the 
top of the carriage only half covered us, the rain covered 
the other half. The little man seemed determined to beat 
the other rig to the hotel or to earn his money in the 
quickest time, and was so in earnest that he tried to pass 
everything on the way. 

THE BUSY STREETS 

The streets of Paris are the busiest streets of any 
city in the world. We talk much of the jam of vehicles 
on the streets of Chicago and on Broadway in New York, 
but, it seems to me, the streets of Chicago and New York 
are peace and quietude as compared with those of Paris. 

As we dashed along through the streets or boule- 
vards, as they are called, we were surrounded by the most 
conglomerate set of rigs that it has ever been my experi- 
ence to witness. There were hundreds of little Victoria 
cabs such as we were riding in ; all kinds of wagons and 
carts; automobiles, sounding their horns; three and 
four horse busses, two stories high, with dozens of people 
on both stories; big automobile busses, two-story affairs, 
with people both inside and on top ; hand push carts and 
almost every other imaginable thing that could be pulled, 
pushed or run through the street. 

The streets are so congested that traffic in one di- 
rection is confined entirely to one side, while the traffic 
in the other direction is confined to the other side of the 
same street. A row of fancy lamp posts down the center 
marks the line of demarkation between the two currents 
of traffic, and under no circumstances is a vehicle allowed 
to go on the wrong side of these lamp posts. 

302 



HOTEL EXPERIENCES 

Our little driver who, with his flying hair and flying 
hat, looked more like the "old man of the sea" than a 
modern cab driver, was so bent on winning out at the 
end of the line that he insisted on taking advantage of 
every opening and in almost every instance tried to get 
around on the wrong side of the lamp posts, where he 
was met by one of the street gendarmes and shoved back 
into line. He kept swearing and talking to himself all 
the way along, laying his whip on his horse and urging it 
to its utmost speed. At every dash his head seemed to 
be going further down between his shoulders. 

The horse was continually on a gallop and, as he 
would strike at this gait into such a congested lot of ve- 
hicles as described above, Mrs. R. would grab onto the 
seat and appear as though she was suffering from a new 
attack of nervous prostration. It is hard to tell whether 
the driver knew where he was going or whether he had 
lost his senses and was rushing us on to certain destruc- 
tion. While I assured my wife that the man was all 
right, I must confess I began to lose some confidence in 
his movements myself, but I think the extreme tension of 
Mrs. E. 's feelings came near giving way as we swept 
around the corner onto an asphalt pavement which, by 
the action of the rain had become as slick as glass, and 
the horse 's feet went out and he came down broadside on 
the street. "With the assistance of some bystanders the 
horse was put back on his legs, and, strange as it ap« 
pears, he fell down only once more on the entire jour- 
ney. We finally got to the hotel, but we had a preju- 
dice against Paris cab drivers from that time. 

OUR HOTEL EXPERIENCES 

s When we arrived at the hotel that had been the most 
303 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

strongly recommended, we found it snch a disreputable 
looking place and the squad of servants who ran out to 
relieve us of our money and baggage looked so squalid 
and dirty that we concluded to go on to the second 
hotel to which we had been directed. 

This was one of the finest and highest priced 
houses in the city of Paris, but, as the great Derby 
races were to take place the Sunday following, all the 
fine hotels were crowded and they could not promise 
us a room in this hotel until the Tuesday following. 
As it was only Thursday when we arrived, we hardly 
felt like riding with our little cabman four days 
longer, so we drove then to the Grand Hotel, a very 
large, magnificent and expensive proposition, the ren- 
dezvous of most fresh Americans, where we found 
fairly good rooms for the time being. 

The Grand hotel is one of the gayest hotels in 
Europe. It stands on a triangular block about four or 
five hundred feet long on each side, and fills the entire 
block, being about seven stories high, which is the 
extreme height of any of the houses of Paris. It is a 
very busy place. 

The dining room or cafe covers a large area and is 
magnificently ornamented. It is full of flowers. Con- 
certs are given by an orchestra during meal time and 
at other hours. It is lighted by thousands of electric 
lights and is altogether a brilliant and very unsatis- 
factory place to stop. 

It is surrounded on all sides by streets that are so 
busy with traffic and occupied by such reckless drivers 
that it is worth one's life to get to or from it. The 
sidewalks in front of it are occupied by hundreds of 

304 



EIFFEL TOWER 

people eating and drinking from little marble top 
tables, and are infested by all of the professional 
guides and peddlers in the city of Paris. Every time 
one steps out of the door he is intercepted by these 
guides and peddlers who insist upon taking him to the 
most disreputable places in the city or on selling him 
the most disreputable pictures imaginable. The ex- 
pense of stopping at this house, together with its un- 
satisfactory surroundings, was such that, after a day 
or two, we concluded to move on. 

We then hunted up a reasonable and comfortable 
hotel near the Vendome place where we stayed the 
rest of our time in Paris. 

While there is much to see in this city, it is almost 
all easy of access. Every public place is free. In almost 
every public place in Italy and in some other countries 
you have to pay an admittance fee for entrance. In 
Paris the finest museums, galleries and everything else 
are open to the general public at nearly all times, with- 
out money and without price. 

THE EIFFEL TOWER 

As soon as I could after reaching Paris, I made a 
trip to the top of Eiffel tower. This is the highest 
structure ever built by man, being but a little less than 
one thousand feet. It is nearly twice as high as the 
Washington monument at the capital of the United 
States. I was anxious to go to the top of this tower, 
not only to enjoy the sensation of being lifted to such 
a great altitude and being that much nearer Heaven 
than most people, but I wanted to enjoy the opportu- 
nity of getting a bird's eye view of Paris and its en- 
virons. 

305 

—20 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

The Eiffel tower was constructed as one of the at- 
tractions of the French International Exposition of 
1889, and was designed by a civil engineer named Gus- 
tave Eiffel, who had already achieved a world's repu- 
tation as a civil engineer and had constructed the fa- 
cade of the main building of the exposition held in 
Paris twenty-one years previous. 

The tower is of open steel construction similar to 
the steel frame work of fire-proof buildings. As it is 
broad at the base and continues with a graceful taper 
to the top, it makes nearly every piece of steel used in 
its construction of a different shape or length. It is 
said to have taken forty draftsmen two years to de- 
sign the various parts that went into the structure. 
It is fitted with elevators and has two or three landings 
between the base and the highest point reached by vis- 
itors. These landings are occupied by theatres, cafes 
and small shops or stores. 

The elevators are of sufficient capacity to raise 
twenty-three hundred persons per hour to the first land- 
ing and seven hundred and fifty persons per hour to the 
uppermost landing. It is claimed that ten thousand peo- 
ple can be accommodated in the various parts of the 
tower at one time so it would seem that the biblical tower 
of Babel, which appears to have been a failure in the days 
when sacred history was made, has become a realiza- 
tion of the present age. However, the confusion of 
tongues among the visitors to the Eiffel tower must be 
nearly equal at the present time to the confusion of 
tongues which resulted in the failure of the tower of 
Babel, for visitors come from all parts of the world 
and ride to the top of this tower, and no matter what 

306 



GRAND PANORAMA 

language a person speaks, he is likely at any time to be 
addressed in his own native tongue in this tower. 

When you reach the top, the platform on which 
you stand, which, from the ground, seems like a small 
enclosure, you find is of sufficient capacity to hold 
three hundred people at one time, and you are im- 
pressed with the magnitude of this wonderful con- 
struction of man. After all, it is but a gigantic toy, 
for it was built only as a speculation and without any 
practical value, except the novelty of its ascent and the 
view from its top, which is one long to be remembered. 

A GRAND PANORAMA 

From the top of the tower the great city of Paris 
lies at your feet with all its irregular but harmonious 
streets, with all its parks and gardens, with all its 
present glory and with all its historical past. 

One thousand feet beneath where you stand the 
river Seine, bordered by the green foliage of many 
trees and vines, meanders like a brilliant serpent from 
the green fields on one side to the green fields beyond, 
dividing the city into two parts. It is spanned by the 
grandest collection of ornamental and useful bridges 
gathered together in any place in the world. The 
scores of little steamboats used as street cars, which 
carry the great population backward and forward 
through the busy city, give the river an air of activity 
that is interesting and delightful. 

Although the streets of Paris are somewhat irregu- 
lar, there is a certain system to them, which induces 
some people, whose judgment is entitled to consider- 
able respect, to make the claim that Paris is the best 
laid out city in the world, unless it be our own city of 

307 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Washington. At the time Napoleon I. came into power 
the streets were very irregular and narrow, and mobs 
could easily assemble and, by tearing up the street 
pavement and bringing obstructions, easily barricade 
the streets so that the regular troops were at a disad- 
vantage. 

Napoleon concluded that this was a menace to a 
monarchy and that streets should be straight enough 
so that a cannon carrying grapeshot or canister could 
disperse or cut down any mob that might be assembled. 
He, therefore, tore the city into shreds and laid out the 
great system of avenues that prevails at this time so 
that a cannon planted at any corner can usually have 
co m mand of several streets or boulevards. The com- 
pletion of this system, while carried out for the pur- 
pose of mowing down the unorganized populace of Paris, 
has made it one of the best and most artistic street ar- 
rangements that is possessed by any city, modern or 
ancient. 

To stand at the top of Eiffel tower and look down 
over this great city and contemplate the wonderful 
things that lie beneath him and within the walls of this 
old capital, gives one plenty of material, if he should 
follow it up, to write a large amount of history and a 
great number of descriptive articles. If I should attempt 
to handle one-quarter of the material which is repre- 
sented under these circumstances, I am afraid this series 
of letters would stretch out to such an intolerable length 
that many of my readers might be called to their reward 
by the onward flight of time before I would reach a con- 
clusion. 



308 



THE PAST 

A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST 

Next to London and New York, Paris is the largest 
city in the world. It was a place of some importance 
when Caesar invaded this northern country. The old city, 
at that time, was on an island in the Seine, which is now 
called the Island of la Cite, and is occupied principally 
by the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It was then the chief 
town of the Gallic tribe of Parissi, from which the city 
obtains its present name of Paris. It is said that the 
people who occupied the island and made up the little 
city at that time were a brave and valorous tribe, and 
surrendered to the Romans only in death ; that when they 
were overcome there were none left to tell the history 
of themselves or the legends of their forefathers. 

Paris rose into prominence under the Roman emper- 
ors, and Clovis made this his capital as early as the year 
508, and about the end of the tenth century Paris became 
the capital of France. The English took possession of 
Paris in 1420, and held possession of the city for thir- 
teen years. After that Paris had all kinds of experi- 
ences. 

Louis Phillipe, about 1830 to 1848, surrounded the 
city with a strong wall and a great system of fortifica- 
tions. The defenses of Paris were considered almost im- 
pregnable, and it was captured by the Germans in 1871, 
at the close of the Franco-Prussian war, only after a 
campaign of starvation. The Germans at that time did 
not attempt to take the city by storm, but caused its 
surrender by surrounding it with their hosts and starv- 
ing them into submission. Its fortifications were too 
formidable for the attack of even such a well organized 
army as that which King William, Bismarck and Von 

309 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Moltke brought with them, but they had a large enough 
force to entirely surround the city outside of its line of 
defenses, and camped patiently and waited for starva- 
tion to do the rest. 

No city can long exist when cut off from its source 
of supplies from the rural districts, and so it was only a 
question of time before all Paris would have to surrender 
to the German troops. It was a sort of cold-blooded 
proposition for the Germans to lie around and idly wait 
for the French to become so starved and emaciated that 
they would forego their national pride and surrender to 
the German banner, but it was more merciful, both to 
the French populace and to the German army, than it 
would have been for the Germans to sacrifice the lives 
of thousands of their men in charges against almost im- 
pregnable walls, and it was more merciful to the French 
than it would have been to destroy their city and mas- 
sacre their defensive army. 

The Germans, however, kept up a gentle reminder 
to the French that they should surrender for, at intervals 
of about every hour, they would send a big shell over 
the line of fortifications which would land somewhere in 
the French capital, and, no matter where it alighted, its 
explosion would present a new scene of death and de- 
struction. The French kept up a communication with 
the outer world by the use of balloons, which sailed out 
in the air and passed over the lines of the German army 
to the outside, but there was not much advantage in this 
except to let the outer world know how deplorable the 
condition was within the enclosure and to take out car- 
rier pigeons, which brought back news of how hopeless 
the struggle had become. In the course of time the 
French surrendered and the German army took posses- 

310 



THE LOUVRE 

sion of Paris, which was a sad day for the proud-spirited 
Parisians. 

Napoleon I. did much for the beauty and advance- 
ment of Paris, and Napoleon III. continued the good 
work, and on the establishment of the republic, which oc- 
curred about 1871, a system of improvements was inaugu- 
rated and is being carried on even to the present time. 
The population now is about 3,000,000, and it is a very 
lively, enterprising and beautiful city. 

THE LOUVRE 

The Louvre is about the greatest thing in Paris or in 
almost any other place. It is an ancient palace of the 
kings, although used at the present time chiefly as a 
museum of art. The name Louvre signifies ''The She- 
Wolf, ' ' and the members of the court hunted the wolf in 
the timber where this great palace now stands. That was 
a long while ago, for, it is said, the construction of 
this building known as the Louvre was begun in the year 
1217. The first building, however, was destroyed and 
the foundations which were the commencement of the 
present building were laid by Francis I. in the year 
1541. The structure was added to by Catherine de 
Medici, Henry IV., Napoleon L and others, and finally 
was completed in its present form by Napoleon III. just 
previous to his dethronement. 

I do not know just what the dimensions of the 
building are. It is an odd construction, there being a 
court in its interior, and to the west side have been added 
two long wings, surrounding a large opening called 
the Place de Carrousel. The form of the building is ir- 
regular, but, I should judge, without being able to obtain 
actual measurements, that it will cover in its greatest 

311 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

length at least a quarter of a mile. It passes over one 
or two streets, but does not impede the street traffic very 
much because it is arched over the streets by tunnels, 
several of them being side by side, so that the cabs and 
buses pass through the building in different directions. 

It was formerly connected with the palace of the 
Tuileries, which was the later palace of the kings of 
France, but this was destroyed by the Commune in the 
year 1871, and has never been rebuilt. The Commune 
at the same time attempted the destruction of the Louvre. 
They undermined it with great quantities of powder, 
saturated the building with oil and attempted to destroy 
it, but before it could be lighted the mob was dispersed 
and this storehouse of valuable art and antiquities was 
saved by the prompt action of the regular troops. 

The museum of the Louvre is the most extensive 
collection of the kind in the whole of Europe. It 
has everything that could be found in such a collection, 
gathered for the benefit of the public, and is open, free 
of admission, at all times. It embraces wonderful varie- 
ties of paintings, both modern and ancient, and repre- 
sents the schools of all countries and all epochs. It con- 
tains a splendid collection of drawings by the greatest 
masters, Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Eoman, Medieval, 
Eenaissance and modern sculpture, and has Greek and 
Etruscan vases in great numbers. It contains the finest 
collection of cups and vases in the world, and all kinds 
of objects in carved wood, majolica, bronze, etc., and its 
collection of tapestries represents the best. 

There is no commercial estimate that could be placed 
upon the objects that are found in the Louvre. Some 
things therein are beyond computation as measured in 

312 



VENUS DE MILO 

dollars and cents. There are other things, however, the 
value of which can be guessed at. One of the prettiest 
little objects among the collection is the sword of Napo- 
leon with its diamond-studded hilt. The entire handle of 
the sword is completely covered with diamonds of a very 
good size, and the value is placed at $400,000. Next to 
this is the regent diamond, with a value of $3,000,000, 
and there are many other objects that are more wonder- 
ful and just as valuable as these little keepsakes. 

VENUS DE MILO 

One of the celebrated works of art in the Louvre is 
a statue of Venus called Venus de Milo, which, I pre- 
sume, interpreted into English would be the Venus of 
Melos. This statue was dug up on the Island of Melos, 
a possession of Greece, by a peasant in the year 1820, and 
was purchased by the French government for the insig- 
nificant sum of about 6,000 francs, or about $1,200. 
France could get a good deal more for this statue now 
than she paid for it. 

No one knows, of course, who carved this statue, nor 
when it was made. It may have lain dormant in the 
earth where it was found for fourteen or fifteen hundred 
years. It was evidently buried to preserve it from the 
Vandals who overran the southern country and com- 
mitted so much destruction in those days. Both arms of 
the statue are gone, so we can only conjecture as to what 
attitude it assumed or what idea it was supposed to rep- 
resent when it was made. It is said, however, to repre- 
sent the most beautiful female form possible and to be 
perfect in that respect. 

I do not know whether the American women would 
concede that this Venus was perfect in shape or not. I 

313 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

examined the statue pretty thoroughly and observed that 
there was a good expanse of waist line and that the toes 
extended freely and did not interfere with each other, 
and it would have taken a good size shoe to cover 
the foot. I doubt whether all American women would 
agree as to the decision that this statue is perfect in 
form, for there is no evidence that the waist had ever 
been squeezed into a six-inch circle by a pair of corsets, 
or the toes lapped over each other by spike-toed shoes, 
which appears to be the idea of good form carried out 
by some of our people. 

I think, though, the average person who views this 
silent messenger that comes to us from the remote ages 
will agree that it speaks in words more convincing and 
lasting than the human tones and tells us that the wo- 
men of those days and the people of those days had good 
ideas of beauty and of good physical form. 

No matter what our opinion of the French may be, 
no matter whether we like their frivolous ways, or 
whether we think that they are a superior or inferior 
lot of people, we must all take off our hats and figura- 
tively, at least, make a bow of sublime respect to them for 
the building, maintenance and preservation of the 
Louvre. They are entitled to the fullest meed of praise 
for getting together the best of all ages, the best of all 
climes, the richest that the earth can offer in sculpture, 
in art, in tapestry, in the handiwork of man, and in 
placing it where it can be conveniently inspected without 
money and without price, and can be copied or used for 
inspection, or used for suggestion in furthering the ex- 
tension of the elevated ideas which it preserves. 

It would have been a world's calamity had this 
314 



ST. MARK'S HORSES 

wonderful building, with its magnificent collection, been 
destroyed when the attempt was made in 1871, and the 
world can give thanks that it did not happen. 

No end of time could be spent advantageously in the 
Louvre. It is too bad, there are so many good things to 
see in this world that we cannot spare more time to each 
of them. One never visits this place without wishing 
that he had weeks and weeks to spend in examining its 
beauties, its wonders and its superb works of art. 

THE TROCADERO 

Nor is the Louvre the only place in France where 
they have choice collections. There is a building called 
the Trocadero, which is named after a Spanish fort cap- 
tured by the French in a battle many years ago. This 
building, however, does not represent a fort, but is a very 
graceful structure with two towers, each 270 feet high. 
It is directly across the river from the Eiffel tower. A 
street and a bridge lead from the base of the tower to an 
immense flight of stairs that rises to the front door of the 
Trocadero, which is located on rather high ground. It is 
a picturesque building and can be seen from a long dis- 
tance. It is embellished with statuary of a high order 
and has a choice collection representing the arts and 
sciences, and a concert hall capable of seating six 
thousand. It is surrounded by spacious grounds, and 
makes a valuable ornament to the great city of Paris. 
There are many beautiful structures and beauty spots 
in Paris. 

ST. MARK'S HORSES 

In the Place de Carrousel is a well-built Arch of 
Triumph. It was erected by Napoleon I. to commemo- 
rate one of his victories. While it is the general opinion 

315 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

that Napoleon spent all of his time in war and carnage, 
it must be remembered that he was a very active man, 
and a man of many parts. With him, art and war went 
hand in hand, and whenever he won a great victory he 
erected a monument to commemorate it. He would take 
a million or so men out somewhere and meet an army 
of about the same number, slaughter a few hundred 
thousand, put the others in irons, and direct his archi- 
tects and builders to build a great arch or monument 
some place to commemorate the mighty victory. 

This arch in the Place de Carrousel is ornamented 
with some bronze horses, but they are not just the ones 
that Napoleon placed there. You may remember that 
when I wrote from Venice I spoke of the bronze horses 
which stand over the doors of St. Mark's church at that 
place, which Napoleon at one time appropriated. He 
used these horses to ornament this arch in Paris when he 
erected it, and it was after the battle of Waterloo and 
the overthrow of Napoleon that these horses were taken 
down and returned to the people of Venice, who had 
mourned their loss. 

JEANNE D'ARC 

Just to one side of the palace of the Louvre is a 
little open square and in the center of it is a statue of 
one of France's most remarkable leaders. It is a statue 
of Jeanne d'Are, the little woman who, at one time, led 
the army of France to victory when the king and all 
the great generals had failed. We assume that the sad 
story of Jeanne d'Are or "Joan of Arc," as she is called 
in this country, is familiar to almost all of the readers 
of history. After her great victory she was beloved 
and almost worshipped by the people of France, but her 

316 



JEANNE D'ARC 

enemies pursued her, she was convicted of heresy or 
treason, and was finally burned at the stake. 

Notwithstanding her body went up in fire, even 
those hot flames did not efface the memory of the affec- 
tion which the French had for this little woman and this 
monument is a tribute to her devotion to France. Very 
frequently the humble people of France bring wreaths 
and place them at the foot of this monument. I do not 
know of what material it is made, but it has been gilded 
with pure gold, which shines brightly, though somewhat 
marred by the weather. The figure of the young woman 
is astride of the horse which forms part of the monu- 
ment, and does not, in her military garb, appear at all 
improper. 



317 



Chapter XXII 



THE TUILERIES GARDEN 

Adjoining the Louvre palace is the Tuileries 
garden. One side of this magnificent garden or park 
rests on the banks of the river Seine, and the other on a 
street called the Rue de Eivoli. All the houses on this 
street are of the arcade pattern, that is, sidewalks lie 
within the line of the buildings, which are supported on 
the outer edge of the sidewalks by columns. There are 
many very rich stores along this street fronting on the 
park, which, by the way, is one of the finest openings or 
pleasure centers in all Europe. 

The garden is about one-half mile in length, and in 
summer is a most delightful resort and is always 
thronged with people. The garden is interspersed and 
surrounded with very pleasant promenades. 

Carlyle, the great English writer, gives an account 
of the attack on the Tuileries, which was the palace 
adjoining this garden, in the year 1792. It is said that 
there were forty thousand rioters in the mob at that 
time. 

PLACE DE LA CONCORDE 

Adjoining the Tuileries garden is the Place de la 
Concorde. The word Concorde signifies peace or har- 
mony, and yet, this has not always been a place of con- 
cord or harmony. In the center of this place, which is a 
large, open square, stands an Egyptian obelisk which was 

318 



CHAMPS-EL YSEES 

brought here from Egypt. It is seventy-six feet high 
and weighs two hundred and forty tons, and is similar 
to the obelisk which was brought by Vanderbilt and 
placed in Central Park in New York city. On each side 
of this obelisk are handsome fountains, and surrounding 
it are eight stone statues representing the chief cities of 
France. One of these statues represents the city of 
Strassburg, but this was wrenched from France by the 
Germans in the settlement of the Franco-Prussian war. 
There is frequently a mourning wreath hanging on it. 

This place, with its surroundings, is also among the 
finest squares in the world, and it made a magnificent 
camping ground for the Germans who bivouacked here 
in 1871, after taking the capital of France. This 
Place de la Concorde, dedicated to peace and harmony, 
has had its bloody scenes, for it was here in the latter 
part of the eighteenth century three thousand people 
had their heads severed from their bodies by the bloody 
guillotine, among whom were Louis XVI., Marie An- 
toinette and many other distinguished royal personages. 
It is now a center of gaiety and life, and the scene 
which it now presents is in great contrast to the ex- 
periences which were enacted where this obelisk of an 
almost forgotten age stands among the beautiful stat- 
ues representing the queen cities of La Belle France. 

THE CHAMPS-ELYSEES 

Leading off from the Place de la Concorde is the 
great Champs-Elysees. I think about the correct pro- 
nounciation of this name would be ' ' Chaum-E-Lee-See. ' ' 
I am not certain that this is right, but this is about as 
near as I could get it, except that it has an addition of 
that peculiar nasal tone that sounds like a short note 

319 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUEOPE 

from a trombone, which only the French seem to know 
how to make when they talk. 

This is a magnificent drive, said to be the finest in 
the world. It commences at the Place de la Concorde 
and continues for one mile and a half to the great tri- 
umphal Eoman arch of Napoleon. As a matter of fact, 
the avenue extends far beyond this, but I think after 
passing the arch it bears another name. 

It is a magnificent boulevard. I would not attempt 
to say how wide it is, but it is wide enough for all prac- 
tical purposes, and is lined with beautiful palaces, hotels, 
cafes, theatres, etc. It is paved with asphalt as smooth 
as a board floor, is lined on either side with beautiful 
shade trees, is ornamented with fancy lights and statues, 
and is certainly up to the expectations of any person 
who has ever heard of it, no matter how extravagant his 
anticipations may be. On this great drive can be seen 
the life, style and quality of Paris. In the evening it is 
crowded with all sorts of vehicles which are intended to 
transport people. I don't think wagons of traffic are al- 
lowed to move over its surface. 

While I was not disappointed in this great thorough- 
fare itself , I was somewhat disappointed in the class of 
many of the vehicles that use it as a thoroughfare. From 
what I had heard of the Champs-Elysees, I supposed 
that it would be occupied and used only by the most 
magnificent equipages in the way of carriages that one 
could see anywhere on earth. In place of that, it is 
largely the thoroughfare for as cheap a lot of little Vic- 
toria hacks, or taximeters, as can be found any place. 
I think they are as bad or worse than the hacks of Na- 
ples and other Italian cities. Many of the horses are 

320 







PARIS. 

The Tuileries Garden adjoining the Louvre Palace. — Page 318. 



CHAMPS-ELYSEES 

bony, bob-tailed and spavined, and many of the cabs 
are almost as badly worn and dilapidated as the one 
which presented itself when we made our fantastic en- 
try into Paris. 

It was one of these dilapidated cabs, the horse that 
went with it, and the driver, who was the captain of the 
outfit, that left with me one of the most painful regrets 
of my stay in Paris, and which, perhaps, prejudiced me 
to a certain extent against this beautiful drive, over 
which most writers rave with enthusiasm. 

It was our last night in Paris. We had arranged to 
take a seven o 'clock dinner at one of the most fashionable 
hotels in the city, where we were to meet some people 
from New York, and we dressed so that we would make 
at least a respectable appearance and not embarrass our 
metropolitan countrymen. While most people are al- 
ways late to a dinner it was a peculiar incident that on 
this occasion we had about one hour to spare, so, as a 
sort of farewell treat, we thought how nice it would be 
to join in the great, never-ending procession that passes 
along the French boulevard. 

We depended upon our hotel man to select us a 
proper conveyance for the auspicious occasion, when, 
to our disappointment, he supplied us with the outfit to 
which I have alluded above. The horse had evidently 
seen more service that particular day than it was en- 
titled to, and appeared to be entirely fatigued. It would 
get in motion only when the driver would strike it with 
his whip, which he did with such vigor that the stroke 
echoed from both sides of the boulevard. Then the poor 
animal would break into a gallop which would last for 
about seventy-five yards, then it would setttle down into 

321 

—21 



/ 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

a walk and get slower and slower nntil the driver yelled 
and whacked it once more. 

If there is anything I can't stand it is a horse of 
that kind. So, after thirty minutes of this doleful per- 
formance, during which time we were passed by many of 
the elite and fashionable of Paris, with their drivers and 
footmen, we presented such a sad contrast that we asked 
as a favor that our cabman would dump us at the hotel 
in the shortest possible time. This drive left me with a 
prejudice against the Champs-Elysees, the great fashion- 
able drive of France, which I cannot well shake off. 

"While there are many handsome turnouts and beau- 
tiful equipages, with liveried drivers and footmen, on 
this drive, the pleasure of a drive thereon is greatly 
marred by these poor little Victoria cabs, with their 
bony horses and their drivers who are not up-to-date 
either in time, style or fit of the garments they wear. 
There is also a large number of automobiles which carry 
passengers backward and forward in the thickest of this 
crush, and they are of all patterns and sizes, and they 
run so recklessly and keep up such a tooting that a ride 
on this celebrated drive, instead of being a treat and a 
pleasure, is a nerve-straining, strenuous epoch of time. 

THE ARCH DE TRIOMPHE 

He who rides out the Champs-Elysees to see the 
great arch which stands at its terminus, while not al- 
ways enjoying the ride, must certainly be impressed with 
this monument to the great Napoleon, which, in its way, 
stands without a peer on the face of the globe. It is an 
immense pile of stone one hundred and sixty feet high, 
one hundred and forty-six feet wide and seventy-two feet 
through, with a vast tunnel forty-six feet wide and 

322 



VENDOME COLUMN 

seventy-six feet in height passing through it. It was 
commenced in the year 1806 by Napoleon to commemo- 
rate his victories, but, before its completion, Napoleon 
was brushed from the scene of action and it was finished 
by Louis Philippe during his reign, at a total cost of 
$2,000,000. 

It is ornamented with groups representing the 
Napoleonic campaigns. The names of nearly one hun- 
dred and fifty battles are engraved upon it, and it has 
a spiral staircase of two hundred and sixty-one steps 
leading to the platform at the top, from whence a grand 
view is had. It stands in the center of a star which is 
formed by twelve boulevards, which branch out from the 
Triumphal Arch like the spokes of a wagon wheel. With 
its surroundings and this arrangement of streets or ave- 
nues, it presents to the visitor one of the most magnifi- 
cent examples of municipal geography that he will ever 
have the pleasure of seeing. 

There are many triumphal arches in the world. 
The old Romans built several in the city of Rome, which 
still stand; Napoleon erected one in the city of Milan 
and another besides this in Paris; there are one or two 
in New York city, and there are others in other parts of 
the world,' but there are none that can compare with this 
arch in its gigantic proportions and the massive statu- 
ary and figures with which it is ornamented. But with 
all its size and grandeur, it seems to me that it commem- 
orates the downfall of Napoleon perhaps more eloquently 
than it does his victories, and shows how vaulting may 
be the ambition of man and how futile may be his efforts. 

THE VENDOME COLUMN 

One of the most remarkable monuments in Paris is 
323 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the Vendome column, which stands near the center of a 
large opening called the Place Vendome. This column is 
one hundred and forty-three feet high, about twenty feet 
in diameter and is built after the pattern of the Trajan 
column in Rome. A spiral procession, representing a 
marching army, in bas-relief, circles round and round 
the column to the top. This procession commemorates 
Napoleon's campaign and victories in Austria and Rus- 
sia. 

It is a wonderful piece of art work, being remark- 
able not only for its size, but for the high class of work 
on the various scenes which it depicts. It is made of 
cannons mostly captured at Austerlitz. Napoleon cap- 
tured so many cannons from the Austrians that he did 
not know what to do with them, so he melted them up 
and moulded them into this magnificent column to com- 
memorate the great victories in which they were cap- 
tured. 

Things seem to go by contraries in this world, for, 
after the war of 1871, the Germans turned over to the 
people of Cologne enough French cannons to make the 
huge bell that swings in one of the towers of the 
Cathedral at that place and it, perhaps, took as many 
French cannons to make this great bell as it did Aus- 
trian cannons to complete the Vendome column. 

This column, by the way, has had some history. 
When Napoleon completed it he placed his own statue 
on the top, but after his defeat, when the throne of 
France passed into the hands of the Bourbons, they 
lifted the figure of Napoleon down and put in its place 
a large fleur-de-lis, the emblem of the Bourbon family. 
It was a sort of ridiculous proceeding. The three 

324 



VENDOME COLUMN 

plumes making up the ornament did not appear to fit 
their lofty position. 

During the Commune, the mob, who were wreaking 
their vengeance on almost everything in sight, concluded 
that this column, which represented monarchy, should be 
removed. They, therefore, hitched a big, long rope 
to it and a thousand men pulled it over. It came down 
with a "dull, sickening thud." 

The French, however, are great lovers of art, and, 
previous to the mad work of bringing down this column, 
it appears that they thought it would be a pity to spoil 
the figures which stood in bas-relief on its exterior, 
and for that reason they put a thick layer of tan bark 
where it was to fall, and let it down as easily as they 
could. After the work of the Commune was over the 
monument was restored without apparent injury, and 
stands to-day just where Napoleon built it, with his 
statue of heroic size crowning the top. 

The French are great for erecting monuments and 
statues. I could hardly stop to describe all of them, 
there are so many it would take a long while. They com- 
memorate all events with statues, monuments or foun- 
tains. There is a colossal statue of a lion in a location 
called the Place Denfert. This immense figure symbol- 
izes the defense of Paris against the Germans in 1871, 
but, as the Germans won out, it seemed to me that it 
was not necessary for the French to call attention to 
their defeat by the erection of this statue and yet this 
is not without precedent in our own country. 

I suppose that thousands and even hundreds of 
thousands of people have looked upon the Bunker Hill 
monument, and their bosoms have swelled with pride as 

325 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

they assumed that it marked the particular spot where 
the Yankees licked the English, but a greater mistake 
could hardly be made. History tells us that this is 
where the English defeated the Americans, and this 
monument is erected in honor of the soldiers of the 
colonies who laid down their lives in the defense of 
Bunker Hill that liberty might live, though they them- 
selves died. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON 

In passing through one of the parks of Paris one 
day, I was both surprised and pleased to come abreast 
of a magnificent statue of George Washington. It is a 
bronze statue showing the father of our country on a 
magnificent horse, the bronze work being supported By a 
granite base, the whole monument being about thirty feet 
high. It represents Washington taking command of the 
army at Cambridge, his arm upraised dedicating his 
sword to the cause of freedom. 

This statue was presented to Paris by one of the pa- 
triotic societies of the United States as a sort of recipro- 
cation of the gift by the French people of the statue of 
Liberty Enlightening the World, designed by Bartholdi, 
which stands in a prominent place in New York harbor, 
and welcomes all people to the United States. The statue 
of Washington in Paris was designed by Daniel C. 
French, an American artist, who, it appears, had a very 
appropriate name to design a statue to be presented to 
our cousins of France. Mr. French was also the archi- 
tect of the statue known as "The Minute Man" at Con- 
cord, Mass., which is considered one of the finest works 
of art in the United States. 

326 



THE GREAT BOULEVARD 

THE MADELEINE 

Not far from the Place de la Concorde is the Church 
of the Madeleine, said to be the most beautiful edifice in 
Paris, and if it is the most beautiful edifice in Paris, it 
must be nearly the most beautiful in the world. It is 
built after the style of a Greek temple, the roof ex- 
tending over the main body of the building and being 
supported around the entire structure by huge Corin- 
thian columns. 

The structure is one hundred and thirty feet wide 
by three hundred and thirty feet long and in the colon- 
nade are niches containing figures of the saints. It is 
the best example of Greek architecture extant. The por- 
tico is supported by a double row of columns, and is 
reached by a magnificent flight of stairs as wide as the 
entire building. The roof is of copper, which has now 
turned green with age, and, while the building is not 
striking in its appearance, architects, particularly, re- 
gard it as a most perfect piece of work. 

THE GREAT BOULEVARD 

There are many avenues, streets and boulevards in 
Paris, but the principal one is the boulevard which, un- 
der various names and with a number of bends, angles 
and curves, reaches from the Madeleine church to the 
site of the old Bastile. It is three miles long and is 
said to be the busiest and most fashionable business 
thoroughfare in the world. It varies in width, as do also 
the sidewalks. At some places the walks are as wide 
as thirty to forty feet. Thousands of people occupy 
these sidewalks while eating and drinking, and the stores 
do a large amount of business with people who never get 
inside of their doors. In some places they have cashiers, 

327 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

cash registers, bookkeepers, etc., and a large display of 
goods outside of the buildings and much of the business 
is transacted with people who are too busy to go inside. 

This is the busy thoroughfare which we encountered 
as we came into Paris. It appears that, in this city, 
foot passengers have no rights that drivers of vehicles 
are bound to respect, so it is rather a difficult problem to 
walk across this street or boulevard with safety. As we 
have stated before, all the travel in one direction is con- 
fined to one side of the street, and that in the other 
direction to the other side. At the base of each of the 
ornamental lamp posts, which are located down the 
center of this great boulevard, are little patches raised 
about six inches above the surface of the street, and 
surrounded by curbs, and called "islands." In cross- 
ing the street, it is usual for foot passengers to spy out 
one of these islands, and when there is sufficient lull in 
the traffic, make a dash from the sidewalk and land on 
the island. Then they take their bearings, set their 
compass, and watch for an opening through the tide 
of traffic which is moving in the other direction, and, 
after a reasonable length of time, they can make a 
break for the sidewalk in that direction. 

The busiest place on this whole thoroughfare, I 
think, is where the avenue from the Grand Opera House 
to the Louvre crosses the boulevard of which we are 
writing. Officers are stationed at such corners as these 
and regulate the travel by stopping traffic and letting 
vehicles on the other thoroughfare avail themselves of 
the right of way. Then, after a reasonable time, the 
traffic is suspended on that boulevard, and the traffic 
on the other one is allowed to proceed. 

328 



RATIFIED 

There are very busy scenes on these boulevards and 
it is surprising that there are as few accidents as there 
are. In our country, drivers learn to look out for foot- 
passengers, but in Paris and the other countries of 
Europe, footpassengers learn to look out for themselves 
and they learn pretty well. 

RATIFIED 

Along the sides of this great boulevard, even in the 
business centers, there is a regular line of shade trees. 
To give these trees a chance to grow, a circle some five 
or six feet in diameter is left in the cement pavement 
around the roots of each tree. These openings are 
covered on a level with the pavement by a circular 
grating of iron work with an opening in the center large 
enough for the trunk of the tree. 

I was somewhat amused one day, while waiting at 
one of the busiest corners in Paris for a chance to make 
a dash across the great boulevard, on looking down one 
of these iron gratings to see a big, husky rat looking up 
through the grating and taking in the busy situation. 
He had a hole underneath the pavement that led to 
some place in the interior of the city, and at this time 
had come out of that hole to see how the affairs of Paris 
were progressing. Hundreds of people were passing by, 
and his ratship semed to enjoy the scene very much. 
When I approached him he went back into his hole with- 
out stopping to even bid me good-day, but when I re- 
treated a little ways, Mr. Rat came out to take another 
look at his surroundings. He appeared to enjoy the 
scene of activity and seemed to be "at peace with the 
hole world and the balance of mankind." 

329 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

A LIVELY RIDE 

But to return to the boulevard. It appears that I 
was making my trip down this great thoroughfare, 
and somehow I got sidetracked. I took several rides 
between the Madeleine and the Bastile, sometimes on the 
top of the huge omnibuses, sometimes on the upper story 
or top of huge automobiles, sometimes in the little taxi- 
meter cabs, and one time, at least, in a little taximeter 
automobile. 

All the experiences were novel and enjoyable. To 
sit on the top of a huge bus or a huge two-story automo- 
bile, with fifteen or twenty other people, the large ve- 
hicles careening from side to side like a ship at sea, the 
horses on the buses always on the trot, and the automo- 
biles moving even faster, the skillful drivers threading 
in and out, and apparently meeting with a hundred nar- 
row escapes, is entertaining, to say the least. 

But I think the ride we enjoyed the most was in 
the little automobile. I do not think that I ever saw a 
chauffeur who was so skillful with his guiding wheel, 
and who could work the various parts of his machine so 
gracefully as the gentleman who took us on this memo- 
rable ride. "We engaged him for one hour, and, having a 
taximeter in his automobile which, I think, determined 
his charges by the distance which he traveled, he cer- 
tainly made his machine earn all the money he could in 
the sixty minutes that he had under the arrangement. 

He not only traveled the whole boulevard from the 
Madeleine to the Bastile, but I think he covered about 
all the other principal streets and boulevards in Paris 
in the short time at his disposal. While steering his 
little car he could work all the other attachments as a 
skillful organist pulls and pushes the stops of a well- 

330 



A LIVELY RIDE 

equipped church organ, while the music is going right 
along. He could thread his way through the surging 
banks of carriages and horses as a weasel can slip 
through cracks that would seem to crowd a knitting 
needle. He seldom had to stop, and if he ever did stop, 
he was in motion again before we found it out. There 
was no position too cramped for him to wiggle into and 
no congestion too close for him to wiggle out again. 
He could not talk a word of English, and if he could he 
certainly would not have had time to avail himself of 
this desirable accomplishment, but he could run an auto- 
mobile, and run it better and faster than any man whom 
I ever saw. 

I like a man who understands his business, and this 
man certainly did. I looked for him all the rest of the 
time I was in Paris, but failed to get his number, and if 
I had I guess he would always be going so fast that I 
could not count him. If I could have found him I 
would have spent all my allowance for Paris in riding 
with him, and would have insisted that he should take 
me in the most dangerous and most thickly congested 
portions of this busy city, for I had entire confidence 
in his ability to take care of himself and his passengers. 

Under his guidance the houses and stores of Paris 
seemed to pass by us as though they were being trans- 
ported on a limited railway train, and when we got back 
to the hotel we had to sit down and wait a while for our 
breath, which was scattered all along the way, to catch 
up to us, and while we were waiting there about twenty- 
five or thirty toots of his horn, that he had run away 
from on the ride, came loitering up to us after we had 
stopped. 

331 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

THE BASTILE 

One of the most interesting points in Paris, con- 
sidered from a historical standpoint, is the "Place de 
Bastile." This is where stood the famous prison which 
was known by that name. 

Previous to the year 1369, there were two towers 
which flanked one of the city gates known as Saint 
Antoine. By the order of Charles V. the provost of 
Paris was directed to convert these two towers into a 
fortress with eight towers. This fortress, when com- 
pleted, was surrounded by a deep moat, which was al- 
ways kept filled with water, had a drawbridge and all 
the characteristics of the old-time prisons. For a while 
it was used as a fortification, but later on it was used 
more particularly for the incarceration of state or polit- 
ical prisoners. 

It was an immense structure, but the accommoda- 
tions were overcrowded in time. Nobody can tell of 
the cruelties, the heartbreaking scenes, and the heart- 
breaking periods of restraint with which the walls of 
this old building became familiar. Stories and romances 
without end have been written about this old structure, 
and many more will follow yet. 

It was here that the mysterious "Man of the Iron 
Mask" was confined. It numbered among its other pris- 
oners Fouquet, Voltaire, Cardinal Rohan, and men of 
all professions and degrees of culture. It stood for a 
term of five hundred years as a symbol of oppression 
and despotism. Its style of architecture was massive 
and it was, apparently, almost indestructible. 

It was considered the greatest obstacle to liberty in 
the whole of France. For whoever moved against 
tyranny landed in the Bastile. The prejudice of the 

332 



THE BASTILE 

people against it was intensified year after year, but it 
was so formidable in its defences that it overawed all the 
patriots of France and entrenched despotism in so 
strong a position that it appeared beyond the power of 
ordinary men to break its bonds. 

There is another power, however, in France, or has 
been in the past, not so certain in its movements, but 
which, on many occasions, has proven itself stronger 
than monarchy, despotism, or even organized armies, 
and that is the rule of the mob. 

This power attacked the Bastile on July 14, 1789, 
killed Delaunay, the keeper, and his assistant officers, 
and captured the prison and released the prisoners. ■ The 
next day the mob commenced a demolition of the grim 
old structure and did not cease their work until it was 
leveled to the ground, not allowing one stone to rest up- 
on another. And so the Bastile became a thing of his- 
tory, and it has never been restored. The moat was 
filled to the level of the surrounding grounds with the 
debris of the Bastile, and it is now eevered with a 
smooth asphalt pavement. 

In the center of the place where the prison stood 
is a high column on which stands a statue of Liberty, 
holding a broken chain in one hand and a torch in the 
other, which well symbolizes the destruction of the 
Bastile and the difference between the conditions of the 
past and those of the present in the city of Paris. In 
the old days the country was governed by monarchy 
and prisons; in the present day France is a republic, 
and columns and statues have taken the place of prisons 
and dungeons. Tears and sighs have given place, under 
the new regime, to songs and laughter, and France is 
now a happy country. 

333 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

A RIDE ON THE SEINE 

One day when the rest of the folks were too tired 
to go any farther, I concluded to take a ride on the 
river Seine. I went down to one of the landings, which 
are numerous, and took one of the little steamboats that 
ply backward and forward through the city. I do not 
know what disposition is made of sewage in Paris, but 
the river Seine appears to be quite clear and its waters 
uncontaminated, so that a ride on this river through this 
great city is a pleasure without fear of contagion. 

I think Paris has the best collection of bridges of 
any city in the world, and, as I have intimated before, 
they are ornamented and beautified by elaborate statues 
and tablets. A number of them have been built to 
commemorate historic events. There are something like 
thirty of them in all, and a ride on this little boat gave 
me an excellent opportunity to see them as I went along. 
The river varies in width from four hundred to five 
hundred feet, and is protected by stone walls on each 
side. 

One of the most important bridges is called the 
Pont d'Austerlitz, the word "Pont" meaning bridge. It 
is inscribed with the names of the principal officers 
killed in the battle for which it is named. It was first 
built in 1808 and then rebuilt in 1858. There is another 
bridge called the Pont Neuf, completed 275 years ago, 
which is ornamented by an equestrian statue of Henry 
IV. A great bridge opposite the Place Carrousel has 
four colossal stone statues, one representing Abundance, 
another Industry, a third the river Seine and the fourth 
the city of Paris. 

There are several other bridges which have stood 
from two to three hundred years, so they must have 

334 



A RIDE ON THE SEINE 

built them with the idea in mind that they were to re- 
main there permanently. There is a bridge called the 
Pont d'Solferino, ornamented with the names of the 
principal victories in the campaign of 1859. Then there 
is another opposite Napoleon's tomb with statues repre- 
senting France's victories by land and sea. The Pont 
d'Alma has statues between its arches representing the 
different types of French soldiers. Another one has 
colossal statues of men and horses, the meaning of which 
I was unable to determine. 

But the greatest of all Parisian bridges is a new one 
completed in 1899 and called the Pont Alexander III., 
or the Alexander bridge. I think this is the only one on 
the whole river which spans the stream with a single 
arch. The roadway is very wide and the bridge is 
adorned with columns and statues. These bridges are 
all stationary, and are built just high enough for the 
little boats to pass underneath them, and present, in 
their ornamentation, a marked contrast to the bridges 
which are usually built in America. I enjoyed the ride 
in the little boat more particularly because it gave me 
such a good opportunity to see these bridges at close 
range and the trip was well worth the time and trouble. 

It is a pity that so little regard is given to the ar- 
tistic arrangement of such works as these in America. 
Would anybody ever think of taking a ride up the river 
in Chicago to examine the beauties of those connecting 
links of rusty steel rods and miscellaneous junk, with 
their double backacting draws, which we have as excuses 
for bridges over the river of the second city in the 
United States? In this country we have not risen to 
the degree of taste that is displayed in matters of orna- 

335 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

mentation of this kind in the city of Paris, or any of 
the older countries of Europe. 

Even the news stands in Paris are nice, little eight- 
cornered structures, with panels filled with colored glass 
of all shades, and are usually presided over by little, 
dark-eyed misses whose faces smile out through the open 
windows like rich paintings set about with elaborate 
frames. 

ST. CLOUD 

But to get back into the river. I continued my 
journey on through the busy parts of Paris out into its 
suburbs, and along to where the wooded islands and the 
green fields bade me a hearty welcome to the country. 
Just near the last bridge and on a little island is a 
statue of Liberty, designed by Bartholdi, being the orig- 
inal of the statue of Liberty which stands in the New 
York harbor. It is about half the size of the one in 
New York harbor, but in all other respects is just the 
same. 

A little farther on I came to the town of St. Cloud. 
This town stands on the left bank of the river as you 
go upstream, on high bluffs. The streets are paved with 
stone and some of them stand almost on end. It is con- 
nected with a highway leading into Paris by a bridge 
with many arches, over which those two-story interur- 
ban cars run into Paris every few minutes. In front of 
the city along the bluff is a very pretty park, and a band 
of musicians and a company of singers give this little 
city an appearance of having an open door to all 
strangers. 

This city was bombarded by the Prussians in 1871 
until of a similar appearance to that of Chicago at the 
close of the great fire of the same year. There was not 

336 



GRAND OPERA 

much the pictures of it at that time present left in St. 
Cloud at that time, except battered and broken walls 
and foundations of houses that had been. But it is 
thirty-six years since then and the town has practically 
outgrown all the scars of that lamentable conflict, and, 
with its many children, its green trees and its lovely 
parks, presents a very beautiful appearance at this time. 

THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE 

Adjoining the Grand hotel in Paris is the Grand 
Opera house. This is the finest theatre in the world. 
This gorgeous building was begun in 1861, but in the 
meantime the Franco-Prussian war broke out and it was 
not completed until the year 1874. It cost thirty-six 
million francs, or a little over seven millions of dollars. 
It occupies nearly three acres, but with its entrances, 
wide corridors, great stage, etc., it seats only two thou- 
sand, two hundred people. It is owned, I think, by the 
government. At least, it is a government institution, 
and grand opera is a regular thing at this magnificent 
play house. 

We were fortunate in securing exceptionally good 
seats and enjoyed the performance greatly. The troupe 
that gave the opera was made up of many artists, some 
of whom were people of world-wide reputation. The 
scenery and electrical effects were magnificent. The 
audience was made up of people mostly in full dress, 
the ladies with low-neck dresses and the gentlemen 
nearly all wearing "claw hammer" coats and high top 
hats. The display of diamonds worn by the women in 
the boxes was so dazzling that, I think, by the reflection 
of the electric lights, they helped illuminate the house. 
Some of the ladies wore hair ornaments, sort of imita- 

337 

—22 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

tion crowns, and others wore necklaces, besides rings, 
bracelets and bosom ornaments. 

One of the things that struck me as the most pe- 
culiar in connection with the attendance at this opera 
house was the style of high top hats the gentlemen wear, 
and the way they used them. In the United States men 
who wear evening dress and high top hats usually wear 
those hats that are made of silk cloth that have wire 
frames and springs inside of them which allow them to 
collapse, and, as soon as they enter a theatre or any 
other enclosure, they remove the hat and walk in bare- 
headed. 

Nearly all of these hats used in America are made 
in France, and are ordinarily called French opera hats. 
I saw but few of this style of hat while in Paris, as the 
French men invariably wear the real shiny silk hats 
which ordinarily are extremely tall with a very narrow 
brim, and, I think, smaller at the top than at the bottom. 

They never take their hats from their heads until 
they walk clear into the theatre and sit down in the 
seat which they are to occupy. When the curtain falls, 
instead of picking up the hat and carrying it in the 
hand to the outer door, the very first thing they do is to 
reach down under the seat where the hats are hanging 
by the wires, pull them out and place them on their 
heads. They then rise from their seats and walk out 
in great squads, with their hats on. 

This may not appear strange to the French, but it 
appears particularly odd to an American who is not 
used to seeing high hats except at very rare intervals 
and never sees a man with such a hat on inside of a 
house. 

The opera commenced a little after eight o'clock 

338 



PARIS GOWNS 

and continued until midnight. There were about one 
hundred musicians in the orchestra and about that num- 
ber of actors on the stage. The opera was rendered in 
French or Italian, and the show closed with a gorgeous 
display of red fire illuminating a grand finale. Alto- 
gether, I should say, the entertainment was a thorough 
success and we certainly enjoyed it very much. 

PARIS GOWNS 

In passing down the street one day near the center 
of Paris, I came opposite an archway in rather an un- 
pretentious looking building. The archway was par- 
tially filled with lumber and some other building mater- 
ial, and, in order to go upstairs, it was necessary to pass 
through this archway and go up an inside stairway. 
Over the top of this opening was a name that is almost 
as well known as any other name on earth, and espec- 
ially is it familiar to the people of fashion. A little gilt 
sign in English letters spelled out Worth. This, then, 
was the establishment of the famous dressmaker of the 
world. 

Mr. Worth, who formerly conducted this establish- 
ment, but who died a few years ago, was not a French- 
man, as most people imagine, but was an Englishman. 
Whether he could make dresses any better than any- 
body else or not, I do not know, but I do know that he 
achieved a great reputation in that line and made gowns 
for the finest dressed people in the world, and charged 
enormous prices for them. 

I never thought it necessary to go to Paris to get a 
dress made, and yet, when I got to that city, I thought a 
man who had his wife there and who could afford to 
have a dress made for her, and didn't have it done, 

339 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

might be considered a very mean man when he got home, 
so I laid aside my prejudices against foreign trade, and, 
with a streak of unexpected generosity, told my wife 
that she could have a dress built in Paris, which I would 
be glad to have her accept as an anniversary present. 

I think from that time on the matter of the archi- 
tecturing and the building of that garment prevented 
the recipient from having any peace of mind or pleasure 
during the remainder of her visit in the capital of 
France. It was promised in two days. Finally the 
garment was done as far as the fitting, and on that oc- 
casion I was called in as the past master and critical 
judge. 

I imagined that some of the streets which I have 
described were the busy places in Paris, but I found out 
now that the real busy places are the dressmaking es- 
tablishments when they have an American victim in 
hand. The establishment was reached from the street 
by a wide stairway covered by a velvet carpet. The 
parlors were fixed up in old style, but very elaborately, 
with long mirrors, a piano and various articles of fur- 
niture, and the walls were hung with pictures of thin- 
waisted women with highly-colored dresses with long 
trains. 

I was shown into the main parlor where I was asked 
to take a seat and wait, and was given a French paper 
that I could not read, to entertain myself with while 
the madam was being prepared. There appeared to be a 
door in every foot of space of every wall of this room, 
and the cutters and fitters and models found it neces- 
sary to continually dart into this room through one of 
these doors on one side, and out through a door on the 
other side. I do not know just how many women were 

340 



PARIS GOWNS 

connected with the overseer department of this small 
dressmaking establishment, but, I think, at least a dozen 
of them passed through the room while I was waiting 
for the entry of the star of the occasion. 

Finally two folding doors were thrown open and I 
was informed in some fragmentary English that ''Mon- 
sieur could see the madame in the new gown." I must 
confess that I hardly ever saw my wife look more beau- 
tiful than she did then, standing there among a bevy of 
French women, taller than any of them, with the same 
smile she wore on our wedding day. She was dressed 
in a sky-blue silk creation, covered with lace as light and 
airy as the meringue on a lemon pie, with basting 
stitches up on one side and down on the other, and 
pinned up the front and down the back with a various 
assortment of pins. One sleeve had beautiful frills 
which were gently waving in the pleasant summer breeze 
and the other arm was bare clear to the shoulder, like 
the statue of Liberty in a Fourth of July procession, 
and, above all, a hat bearing many plumes of snowy 
white quivered responsive to her every movement. There 
was a red, pink and gold ribbon crisscrossed through 
little openings in the upper part of the bosom, and I 
had to confess, while receiving the smiles of the most 
beautiful model I had ever seen, that the garment was 
a recherche affair and it was passed upon without fur- 
ther argument as being satisfactory. 

From that time on Mrs. E. was in a state of com- 
plete terror during every waking hour and suffered 
from nightmare every moment that she slept for fear 
that the garment would not be done by the time we were 
ready to leave the city. At the last hour and the last 
possible moment, a young man came along with a wooden 

341 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

box about as big as a Saratoga trunk, which he set down 
on the floor of the hotel and unstrapped and opened up 
the cover, but before lifting out the fragile garment he 
presented a bill which was ' ' cash on delivery, ' ' and, be- 
ing made out in francs, it looked as big as a person 
would expect a bill of sale to be which would cover the 
Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York city. 

Mrs. R. carefully wrapped up the garment and, for 
lack of room in the trunk, shoved it into a suit case all 
by itself, where it could not help being filled with 
wrinkles. Then she began to worry about custom duties. 
Then she brought it to New York where a custom house 
officer pulled it out, examined it, consulted with his su- 
perior, and finally decided that it was not worth assess- 
ing for custom taxes. He passed it along. Mrs. R. 
heaved a sigh of relief, which appeared to be the' first 
pleasure she had experienced since ordering the Paris 
gown. 



342 



Chapter XXIII 



THE BONES OF THREE MILLIONS 

Another day, when the female portion of my family 
wanted to do some shopping and see how they made 
dresses in Paris, I took another stroll by myself, and this 
time went to vist the catacombs. 

All the houses of Paris, or nearly all of them, are 
made of a light-colored stone. This stone is quarried 
from a ledge about one hundred and fifty or two hun- 
dred feet below the surface of the earth, and when Paris 
was a small town, these quarries were opened in close 
proximity to the center of the city, just as the coal 
mines are now taking out the foundations of the earth 
only a short distance from the state house in Illinois. 

In the course of time, as th? city of Paris grew 
larger, it became necessary to prevent the further 
quarrying of stone under the surface where the houses 
were being built, and the city soon spread over the 
quarries that were already opened. In the course of its 
onward march it also encroached upon several of the 
cemeteries which had received the bodies of the departed 
for many centuries. As a solution of the problem it was 
decided to take up all the bones from the various ceme- 
teries and deposit them in these several caves from which 
the stone had been removed to build the city of Paris. 
This idea having been carried out, the so-called cata- 
combs have become an interesting, but grewsome, part 
of the make-up of Paris. 

343 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

At first the bones were just carted over to the open- 
ings and deposited in the caves below in a miscellaneous 
sort of manner, with not much attention to order, but 
afterward it was ordered that they should be put in 
better shape. It is said that the bones of about three 
million people now rest in these caverns, and the care 
with which they have been arranged and the time ex- 
pended upon their arrangement must have been con- 
siderable. 

There are only certain days in the month when a 
visit can be made to the catacombs. When I came to 
the entrance I found about one hundred other people 
there prepared to make the pilgrimage. Each person 
was supplied with a candle held in a little candlestick. 
The descent was made by a spiral stone stairway going 
straight down some two hundred and fifty steps. 

Arriving there, we found the bones arranged in 
solid walls on each side of the pathway, and, I should 
judge, the corridor which they formed between them, 
extending in various directions and coming back to 
the starting point, reached something over a mile in 
length. The cavern was about seven feet high ;' that is, 
the ledge of stone which had been removed was ap- 
parently seven feet thick. The wall of bones on each 
side extended from the floor to the height of an ordinary 
person. They were regularly laid up like a rough stone 
wall, there being about eighteen inches of thigh bones, 
arm bones and other straight bones, or ribs, then a layer 
of skulls, then the wall would continue with the smaller 
bones for about twenty inches or two feet, and then there 
would be another layer of skulls, and so on, until in the 
six or seven feet high there were about three or four 
layers of skulls, which extended a little from the face of 

344 



BONES OF THREE MILLIONS 

the walls, the appearance being the same as would be 
made by laying up an ordinary stone wall of small 
broken stone, and about every two feet placing a layer 
of boulders, the size of the human skull, so that in look- 
ing down the corridor, these grinning skulls made three 
stripes along the entire wall. 

Every here and there the skulls are worked into the 
wall in the shape of a cross, and in some places the 
corridors are widened out and converted into chapels 
where a considerable number of people can meet for re- 
ligious worship at any time. Here the bones and skulls 
are worked into altars and crosses. In many places the 
skulls and cross-bones are arranged in the shape that 
they are usually printed in pictures. The corridors are 
usually dry, although in some places they were dripping 
water. They are kept remarkably neat, but once in a 
while a person would find his feet down in the dark 
mixed up with a miscellaneous lot of skulls and bones. 

A French guide, who was along with our party, 
was very attentive to me, as I appeared to be one of the 
people who asked the most questions, and, as a special 
compliment, extracted a couple of teeth from the skulls 
that were sticking out, and insisted that I should take 
them with me and have them made into scarfpins. But, 
as I never was much taken with jewelry and do not 
wear much anyway, he felt rather disappointed that 1 
did not appreciate the compliment and left the teeth 
with him. On one occasion, in trying to extract the 
molar from the skull in the wall, he unfortunately pull- 
ed the skull from its setting and had it left on its hands, 
and hardly knew what to do with it. 

The condition of the atmosphere appeared to be 
fairly clear, and yet I could hardly recommend this as a 

345 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

desirable promenade for persons suffering from weak 
lungs or any pulmonary disease. 

The bones seem to be classified into different groups, 
and, I think, signs designate where the different ones 
are located. For instance, one section is devoted to the 
bones of the revolutionists who fell in the uprising of 
1788; another to those who fell in the revolution of 
1848; another section is filled with the bones of those 
who fell in the Napoleonic wars, and so they are 
classified into civic and military groups, and by differ- 
ent ages and epochs. 

It is rather a somber scene, and is not well calcu- 
lated to elevate the spirits of the visitors, and yet the 
crowd, which was largely made up of Americans and 
English, appeared to be quite jolly and indulged in 
about as much levity as they would if they were on an 
ordinary picnic. I think, however, that the levity was 
rather forced, and it was a sort of case of whistling 
while going through the dark woods, to keep up cour- 
age. 

To stand among all that is left of three million of 
your fellowmen and, if one falls into reverie and con- 
templation, and considers all the tragedies of life which 
these unidentified remains have passed through, or 
thinks of all the sorrow and tears that have gone with 
their deaths and burials, one cannot but have a feeling 
of depression take possession of him, no matter how 
happy he may pretend to be. 

THE PANTHEON 

One of the finest buildings of the dome pattern in 
Paris is the building called the Pantheon. It was built 
during the years from 1764 to 1790, but looks new and 

346 



NAPOLEON'S TOMB 

modern. It stands upon high ground on the spot where 
Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, was buried in 512. 
I think it was built as a church. The portico is sup- 
ported by twenty-two Corinthian columns, each eighty- 
two feet high. While it is a beautiful building with a 
noble dome, it is more celebrated as the resting place of 
some of the distinguished men of France, among whom 
are Voltaire, Rousseau, Lannes, Bougainville, Cardinal 
Eichelieu and Victor Hugo. 

I think the most celebrated tomb is that of Cardinal 
Richelieu, which is surmounted by a recumbent figure 
depicting the death of the cardinal, his head resting 
in the lap of a woman, and another woman, typi- 
cal of France, weeping at his feet. Cardinal Riche- 
lieu had a stormy and tempestuous time during his life, 
and it is hoped he sleeps peacefully in death. With 
all the greatness and glory surrounding the tomb and 
the recollections of Cardinal Richelieu, I must confess 
that I took more interest in the tomb of Victor Hugo 
than I did in that of Richelieu, and I felt that it was an 
especial privilege to be allowed to stand and look upon 
the casket that held the remains of this wonderful 
writer. 

NAPOLEON'S TOMB 

While in Paris we visited the tomb of Napoleon, 
which is located in the Hotel des Invalides. A hotel in 
French means any sort of a building, and is not confined 
to the meaning which we give it in the United States. 

The Hotel des Invalides was formerly a hospital 
with a large cathedral in connection. In the main part 
of the building, surmounted by a spacious gilded dome, 
rests the tomb of the great Napoleon. 

347 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

The construction of the tomb of Napoleon is much 
like that of the General Grant tomb in the Riverside 
Park in New York city. There is a circular opening in 
the center of the main floor, surrounded by a railing, 
and a view of the sarcophagus is had from the main 
floor looking over the railing to the floor below. 

The remains of the great general are encased in a 
huge, polished granite sarcophagus. It is one of the 
most impressive tombs, I think, in the entire world, and, 
as one stands and looks down upon this casket that con- 
tains the remains of one of the greatest characters the 
world has ever produced, no matter what the opinion 
may be of the man, a person is very likely to look upon 
his final resting place with a considerable feeling of awe. 

Around the sarcophagus, engraven in the floor, are 
the names of the great battles in which he achieved vic- 
tory. About the interior of the great rotunda are a 
wonderful display of marble statues and an arrangement 
of magnificent stained glass windows casts a beautiful 
blue light over the whole interior, which is very effective. 

In the niches there are a number of caskets made of 
stone or bronze, containing the remains of Napoleon's 
relatives, and, perhaps, other illustrious persons. One 
of these contains the remains of Jerome Bonaparte, 
brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, once king of "Westphalia 
and grandfather of Charles J. Bonaparte, now the at- 
torney general of the United States. We being Amer- 
icans, this tomb was pointed out to us by a man who 
acted as guide while showing us through this part of the 
city. 

AN OLD LOVE STORY 

This calls to mind the sad story of the marriage of 
the beautiful Elizabeth Patterson of Baltimore, Md., to 

348 



AN OLD LOVE STORY 

Jerome Bonaparte, which occurred in the United States 
in the year 1803. Jerome Bonaparte, who was a captain 
in the French service, visited the United States at that 
time and met Miss Patterson at a party given at the 
house of Samuel Chase, a signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. It seemed to be a case of love at first 
sight, but Miss Patterson's father strenuously objected 
to the marriage of his daughter to a titled foreigner. 

In these days some fathers and mothers strive and 
succeed in bringing about these undesirable matches, 
but Miss Patterson's father seemed to be a man of sense, 
and so objected to this marriage, and sent his daughter 
to Virginia. It is said that love laughs at locksmiths, 
etc., and it appeared to be so in this case, for the young 
lovers contrived to correspond and in a short time be- 
came engaged to each other without anybody's consent, 
and Jerome even procured a marriage license. The 
event, however, was postponed until the 24th of Decem- 
ber, 1803, when Jerome would have passed his nine- 
teenth birthday. All legal formalities were carefully 
complied with, and the marriage took place at the young 
lady's home in the presence of the mayor of Baltimore 
and other distinguished citizens. It was the intention to 
make an American citizen of Jerome, and he was to be 
naturalized and live in the United States. 

Jerome Bonaparte was a brother of Napoleon I., 
who was then in his glory, and who seriously objected to 
the marriage, and sent Jerome a message that if he 
would come back home and leave the "young person" in 
America, his youthful indiscretion would be forgiven, 
but if he brought her with him she would not be allowed 
to enter any part of the French domain. 

Captain Bonaparte and his wife, notwithstanding 
349 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

this edict, sailed in March, 1805, in a ship belonging to 
Mr. Patterson, the father of the wife, but when they 
reached Lisbon, Spain, they found a French frigate 
there to prevent their landing. Jerome then went to 
Paris to plead the cause of his young wife with his 
brother, while the vessel, by a round-about circuit, pro- 
ceeded to Amsterdam. At the mouth of the Texal they 
were confronted by two French men-of-war awaiting 
her, and the young Mrs. Bonaparte was forced to give 
up landing at that place, and, instead, went to Dover, 
England. 

The news of her treatment had spread over the 
country, and the English commander, Pitt, was com- 
pelled to send a regiment to Dover to quell a riot, owing 
to the great interest and the large crowds of people 
gathered there to witness her arrival at that place. A 
few days after her landing a son, whom she called Je- 
rome Napoleon Bonaparte, was born to her. She resided 
at Camberwell, England, and received many letters 
from her husband protesting his fidelity and affection. 

Napoleon applied to the pope to dissolve the mar- 
riage, but the pope steadfastly refused to do so, and, at 
the instigation of Napoleon, a decree of divorce was 
passed by the imperial council of France. The emperor 
offered the young wife a pension of sixty thousand 
francs «, year providing she would return to America 
and drop the name of Bonaparte. It appears that she 
refused the offer and refused to give up the name of 
Bonaparte, but did return to this country, and contin- 
ued to use the name of Bonaparte as the name of the 
new family established, and this son, who was born in 
England, was the father of the present attorney general 
of the United States. 

350 



AN OLD LOVE STORY 

After much persuasion, it appears that Jerome 
Bonaparte was induced to forswear his wife and accept 
the decree of divorce passed by the French council, and 
as a reward for his desertion he was created a prince 
of the empire, was promoted to the rank of admiral, and 
subsequently to the rank of general. In 1806 he was 
made by the senate successor to the imperial throne in 
the event Napoleon left no male heir, and in 1807 he 
was created king of Westphalia, and, on August 12 of 
that year, he married Catherine Fredericka, princess of 
Wurtemberg. 

Jerome Bonaparte, the son who was born in 
England, was offered, when he attained his majority, 
the hand of a princess of the royal blood, but he de- 
clined the same, and, as his mother desired, married an 
American girl by the name of Williams, who lived in 
Roxbury, Mass. Mrs. Bonaparte, formerly Miss Patter- 
son, through the advance of the property her father had 
left her in Baltimore, became very wealthy, and the 
Bonaparte family, of which the present attorney-gen- 
eral is a member, is one of the most distinguished fami- 
lies in Maryland now. 

With her many trials, the beautiful Elizabeth Pat- 
terson had a sad and melancholy life, notwithstanding 
her. royal marriage and her possession of great wealth, 
and became much embittered in her old age. 

Jerome Bonaparte gained a kingdom, but lost the 
love of a good wife and the respect of the whole world, 
and finally went down in the wreck and ruin of the 
Napoleonic regime. Like all other mortals he died and 
his body now rests in a rich marble sarcophagus be- 
neath the same dome that covers the remains of his illus- 
trious brother. While he may have had the glitter and 

351 . 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

glare that surrounds a king, and lived in glory, and 
rests between walls of marble, his memory is to be pitied 
that he did not have the will and stamina to pursue a 
more honorable course with his American wife. He 
should have had the courage of his convictions and de- 
fied the persuasions of his brother and not given up a 
lovely and beautiful wife for the little pittance of 
worldly glory which has faded forever, and is no ad- 
vantage now either to him or to his memory. 

THE GRAND PRIX 

One of the greatest events of the year in Paris is the 
Grand Prix, pronounced "Gran Pree," which means 
"grand prize," and refers to the grand running horse 
races of the year, similar to Derby day in England, or 
the Derby races in Chicago. As this occurred on the 
Sunday while we were in the city, we concluded to take 
advantage of the opportunity and attend these races. 

On this day the hotels are crowded to their utmost 
capacity. All rigs are engaged beforehand, and it is a 
gala day for the people of Paris. While there is an 
ordinance regulating the price of vehicles in Paris, the 
lid appears to be lifted on this occasion and the drivers 
ask and get whatever they want. 

We arranged for seats in one of the big tallyhos 
owned and controlled by an excursion association, and, 
in company with two or three of our friends and a 
lot of other people, made the trip to the race course. 
The ride was to start at eleven o'clock, but, in order to 
get as many passengers as they could, the conductor de- 
layed the starting until twelve o'clock and then went 
the shortest route. One of the great sights of the race 
day is the procession of people that go to the course, 

352 



THE GRAND PRIX 

the main avenue for this purpose being the Champs 
Elysees and through the Bois de Boulogne park. As 
this fashionable drive was so crowded, our conductor 
ordered our rigs to shoot off the main thoroughfares into 
the side streets, and thus we missed many of the scenes 
and sights of the occasion. 

We presented a very picturesque appearance as we 
went along in three big tallyho coaches or drags, four 
horses on each one, a driver with a shiny silk hat about 
three inches across the top and sloping out across the 
bottom to fit his head, a red vest, a green jacket, knee 
pants, and also a footman wearing about the same uni- 
form. We had paid a good deal of money to go in style 
and we wanted both to see and be seen. I felt very much 
disappointed that we were dragged out of the regular 
line of travel and missed seeing all the military, all the 
elite, all the fashion, the president and his staff, and the 
king of Denmark and his court, and all the other great 
people who went with them. 

After we had trotted gingerly along through a 
back street for about a mile where we could neither see 
nor be seen by anybody, I took it upon myself to or- 
ganize an indignation meeting, and brought the whole 
cavalcade to a stop while I vehemently expressed in 
English, the best I knew how, my opinion of the treat- 
ment that was being accorded us. The man who had 
charge of the excursion told me if I did not like the 
way things were going he would be glad to return my 
money and let me get down and walk. This I declined 
to do, but insisted more vigorously on our rights, and, 
after considerable parley, we were promised better treat- 
ment, which we did not receive on the way out, but 
which was kindly accorded to us on the way back. As 

353 
—23 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

there were about fifty people who were being subjected 
to the same treatment, I had the satisfaction of re- 
ceiving their congratulations on the immense roar which 
I made. 

It is the necessity of continually fighting for your 
rights that is the most serious drawback to the pleasure 
of foreign travel. You will always be imposed upon if 
you do not assert yourself, and frequently you are im- 
posed upon if you do. To get what one is entitled to in 
a foreign land is like the price of liberty, which requires 
eternal vigilance and a fight all along the line. 

THE RACES 

The grand races are run on a magnificent course 
called the Longchamps. There is a considerable con- 
trast in the price of admission and the price of desir- 
able seats. The general admission to the course is only 
one franc, or twenty cents ; to secure a seat on the ordi- 
nary grandstand one must pay five francs, or one dollar ; 
and to secure a seat on the principal grandstand, the 
price is twenty-five francs, or five dollars. The conse- 
quence of this scale of prices is that there are but few 
people occupying the grandstand as compared with the 
great number of people who attend the races. 

"We managed to secure a very good seat directly op- 
posite the start and finish of the great race, and the 
finish of all the other races, which were started from 
the farther side of the track. 

"We often allude to running races in this country, 
and even to trotting races, as turf events, but I never 
have seen a race run on the turf in America. They 
are always run on soft dirt tracks about as dusty as 
country roads. In these races here the horses run on 

354 



THE RACES 

as beautiful a field of grass as could be grown any place 
in the world. The track measures one and seven-eighths 
miles and lies between two white fences, as is ordinary 
on race tracks, and the races are run on the turf in fact 
as well as in name. The grass is evidently cut close with 
a lawn mower. This green track added much to the 
beauty of the scene, and the lack of dust much to the 
pleasure of the event. The track was not entirely level 
on the farther side, but in front of the grandstand and 
for a considerable distance in each direction, it was of a 
very level nature. 

From our seat in the grandstand we could look 
across the track and see the streams of humanity that 
came in from the city on the opposite side. We were in 
the stand an hour and a half or two hours before the 
races commenced, and during all that time there were 
several continuous processions which came through the 
woods beyond the track, there being a park on that 
side. 

The whole of Paris seemed to have turned out for 
the event. There were all kinds of vehicles, all kinds of 
uniforms, all kinds of people, and several bands. When 
the races were finally called it was estimated that there 
were two hundred and sixty thousand people on the 
grounds. The most of these were scattered over the en- 
closure inside of the track, and I am certain there were 
over one hundred thousand people present who did not 
see the races. They could not by any manner of means 
see either the horses or the riders, and didn't even know 
when the races were taking place. But, I guess as a 
matter of fact, they didn't care whether they saw any- 
thing at all or not, except the crowd. 

There is something magnetic about a great gather- 
355 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ing of people, and, while many persons complain of a 
crowd, they always appear to be anxious to break into 
it, and so I presume this great assemblage was brought 
together more by this magnetism of a crowd and to see 
each other than to see the races. 

In the grandstand the president of France was 
entertaining the king of Denmark and some of the dis- 
tinguished people of France and other countries. The 
president is a rather thin, elderly gentleman, and wears 
a grey beard and a high silk hat. He was pointed out to 
me, but, as for the king of Denmark, there didn't ap- 
pear to be anybody who could tell him from the other 
flunkies by whom he was surrounded. 

There were six races in all, the Grand Prix being 
number five, as I remember. The starter, who had the 
same trouble as is always experienced in getting horses 
started on the track, sent off two of the races with very 
bad starts, especially one where the horses were scattered 
at least fifty yards when they were given the word to go. 
Every time, after the horses were given the word, the 
starter would come from the starting place back to the 
president's box, diagonally across the track, being sur- 
rounded by a dozen policemen as a bodyguard. "When 
he made the bad send-off he was roasted as vigorously 
and as unmercifully as a baseball umpire in America 
when he makes a bad decision. I could not tell what 
the wild waves of the French were saying, but I could 
very easily recognize the trouble from the tone of their 
voices. There were twelve or fifteen horses in each race, 
and the grand prize, which amounted to $55,715, was 
awarded to Baron de Eothschild, and was won by the 
horse called Sans Souci II., which, as I understand it, 
was ridden by an American jockey. 

356 



AUTOMOBILING AROUND PARIS 

After the races were over the ride back to the city 
through the park and among the thousands of foot pas- 
sengers and the great concourse of vehicles and people 
lining each side of the streets by thousands, was a 
spirited and entertaining experience, and the conductor 
of our party this time stuck to the principal drive. He 
brought us down through the congested strata of the 
elite, the beauty and the fashion of France, and, at the 
end of the trip, came to me and asked me if I was satis- 
fied with the return drive. I expressed my entire satis- 
faction, and we parted on good terms. 

AUTOMOBILING AROUND PARIS 

There are a great many capitalists traveling through 
Europe in automobiles, and it is a delightful, though ex- 
pensive, way, to tour the country. The roads are so good 
and the restraints on speed so lax that it makes the 
nicest way imaginable to get over the country, if one can 
afford it. We could not afford to take an automobile 
and chauffeur with us, but concluded that, with the 
financial assistance of a couple of friends who were 
traveling our way, we could stand the expense of an 
automobile for at least half a day. 

We engaged one of the best machines in Paris to go 
to Versailles and St. Germain and see some of the 
suburbs and environs of Paris. In addition to the 
chauffeur, who could not speak a word of English, we 
took along a guide who could not do much better. How- 
ever, he could tell us almost everything we wanted to 
know, and some things that we did not care whether we 
knew or not. 

We struck out up the beautiful boulevards of Paris, 
among its palaces and by the great Arch of Triumph, 

357 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

across the bridge over the Seine, and passed through the 
city of St. Cloud and several other towns and villages on 
the way. Almost all the cities or villages in Europe 
have a sort of customs duty which they impose upon 
various articles that come within their limits. They 
have city gates, not great, heavy barricades of the port- 
cullis pattern, but light iron gates that reach across the 
highway where it comes into the town, and must be 
opened before anybody can enter. 

I remember that in one of the first towns that we 
came to, the chauffeur had to stop his automobile at the 
gate, take up the cushion, untwist the coverings of the 
tank, and a man with a foot rule measured the depth of 
his gasoline to see whether he was bringing into the 
city more gasoline than he was entitled to bring without 
paying a special tax. We had to stop at the gates of 
several settlements and go through some performance of 
this kind. 

The little towns were quaint, and, as we bowled 
along the roadways, which were made of macadam or 
gravel and sometimes saturated with oil to prevent the 
dust, it made a most delightful ride. I remember one 
place more particularly beautiful than any other, where 
the highway was bordered with two rows of trees, and 
the driveway for miles was practically one long park. 

I was surprised to find how much timber land there 
is near the city of Paris. Just outside of the walls in 
one direction there is a large forest which is a govern- 
ment reserve, and which has as fine a lot of forest trees 
as could be found any place. Through this great forest 
are beautful, hard, smooth roads and, as there appears 
to be no law against speed, we went over them, I think, 
at the rate of nearly fifty miles an hour. 

358 



PALACE OF VERSAILLES 

We met along the way other parties of automobil- 
ists, and many peculiar old style carts, some of them 
drawn by long eared donkeys and some by very nice 
horses. The circuit that we made covered about sixty 
miles, and it gave me the best idea of the country of 
France and the condition of the roadways that it was 
possible to obtain. I do not know whether I should 
make a comparison or not, for comparisons are said to 
be odious, but the roads around Paris are just about as 
much better than we have through the central west as 
could well be imagined. 

THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES 

The main object of our ride was to visit Versailles, 
the former home of the rulers of France. This city con- 
tains about 60,000 people. The city itself is of small im- 
portance to a visitor, but the great object of interest is 
the palace built by Louis XIV. at an estimated cost of 
$200,000,000. It was from this palace that Marie An- 
toinette and Louis XVI. were taken to Paris to meet the 
bloody fate of having their heads severed from their 
bodies by the guillotine. 

I cannot undertake to describe Versailles — it would 
take many columns, and even then the work would not 
be completed. The palace itself is nearly a quarter of 
a mile in length, and some of the great saloons are from 
two hundred to four hundred feet long. It has been a 
long time since the rulers of France lived here, and it is 
now a museum, as is stated in its inscription, "devoted 
to all the glories of France." It contains statues and 
art works without number and without price. There is 
not a place where one dollar could have been expended 
that ten dollars have not been used in the creation of 

359 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

this great establishment. Its art works are more par- 
ticularly devoted to great battle pictures, and every one 
of these shows battles in which France was victorious, 
or at least, at the time, had the advantage of the situa- 
tion. There is a queen's chamber where the three 
queens, Maria Theresa, Marie Leczinska and Marie An- 
toinette, made their homes. 

But, while this building is devoted to all the glories 
of France, there was at least one time in its history 
when that inscription was hardly appropriate. In the 
grand saloon in the palace of Versailles old King Wil- 
liam of Prussia, after capturing Paris in 1871, was 
crowned emperor of United Germany, and this was cer- 
tainly not to the glory of France. 

The park adjoining the palace of Versailles, with its 
numerous fountains, seems more like the creation of a 
dream than the handiwork of man, and, in looking back 
as I now write this feeble description, I can only remem- 
ber it as a collection of beautiful statues, lakes, cascades, 
green grass, well-trimmed trees and bright flowers, and 
it seems there were a hundred fountains, whose waters 
were ever in motion and reflected in the sunlight the 
most varied hues of the rainbow. 

Near the other end of the park is the residence or 
chateau of Marie Antoinette called "la petit Trianon," 
In this house at the present time are the bed, the tables 
and the little pieces of bric-a-brac that were used by 
Marie Antoinette and, with its present quietness and its 
unpretentious surroundings, it tells a sort of silent and 
sad story. Anna Gould, who married a French count, 
built a replica of this house in Paris, for her residence. 

Near the Trianon is the house that contains the 
great carriages of state, and the saddles and harness 

360 



PALACE OF VERSAILLES 

which were used by the former rulers of France. There 
are single sets of harness with gold and silver mount- 
ings, which represent a value of at least $25,000. There 
are great carriages, one of which required sixteen horses 
to draw it from Paris to Versailles, and all of which are 
like great cages of fantastic, ornamental gold on wheels. 

Those were extravagant rulers that managed the 
affairs of France before the time of Napoleon, and 
when you think of the glory of their living and the 
poverty of the people who paid the bills, you can hardly 
wonder that a revolution was brought into existence 
that cried for the steady work of the guillotine until 
thousands of heads were sacrificed to allay the feelings 
of hatred and revenge which had been engendered. 

It is hardly necessary for me to try to describe the 
scenes of grandeur and faded glory that surround Ver- 
sailles. The ordinary person cannot put such a descrip- 
tion in language that even an extraordinary person could 
thoroughly understand. They present, however, a les- 
son that should not be overlooked or go unheeded by 
those who have a regard for the good and welfare of 
present and future generations. They speak to us si- 
lently and yet in words more forcible than can be writ- 
ten with pen or sounded by tongue, and tell us that the 
true greatness of a nation is in the contentment of its 
people, and not in the extravagance and grandeur of 
its aristocratic classes. These magnificent ruins are like 
signposts along the way, to admonish all to be just, to be 
honest, to be charitable, to be merciful, and, no matter 
what opportunities may come to rob or plunder and live 
in elegance and leisure on the sweat and toil of the pro- 
ducers of the land, that the favored ones should not take 
advantage of these opportunities, but should remember 

361 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

that he lives best who lives not for himself, but for his 
fellowmen. 

GOOD-BYE TO PARIS 

We had now gone over Paris in a hnrried sort of 
way. We had seen some of its great buildings, some of 
its wonderful art treasures, had looked at it from the 
top of its great tower, and had passed through its many 
busy and intersecting streets. We had spent a little 
time in its old Cathedral, which, at one period in its his- 
tory, had ceased to be a house of divine worship and 
had been dedicated to the reign of so-called reason, and 
then again restored to the worship of God. We had 
ridden on its beautiful little river, had been passengers 
on the roofs of its crowded 'buses, had gone through its 
great subway in electric cars, which pass under the en- 
tire city, and had finally encircled the city in a swift- 
moving automobile, had visited its tombs and catacombs, 
had feasted in its brilliant restaurants where frog legs 
are served a la francaise, and where snails are eaten 
from the shells, and we had also taken meals in meager 
little cafes where we steered clear of its black roast beef 
for fear we would be getting horse meat. We had run 
the gamut from its emporiums of fashion to its most 
humble marts of trade, and had seen a considerable va- 
riety in the way of amusements and people. We had 
not seen all that was of interest, nor all that we might 
have seen, but we had taken in enough to give us a gen- 
eral idea of the great city. 

While in some particulars Paris was perhaps not 
up to our entire expectations, in other ways it was so 
lively, so fascinating, so graceful, so charming, and so 
interwoven with the most intense phases of the world's 

362 



GODD-BYE TO PARIS 

history, that we were more than pleased with our stay. 
"We had already tarried longer than we intended to, but 
had found it more of an undertaking to see all of Paris 
than we had calculated, and were even now loath to leave 
it. But, as time was pressing, and we had England and 
Ireland before us, we concluded to move on, so gathering 
our belongings together, we took the rapid train for 
London, the great city of England and the metropolis 
of the world. 



363 



Chapter XXIV 



IN LONDON 

And we came to London in "merrie old England." 
I will not go into detail as to the long ride from Paris, 
but will only say that we came on a very rapid train, 
that our baggage was checked from the station in Paris 
to the Charing Cross station in London, and that we 
crossed the English channel between Calais and Dover. 

The English channel has a reputation for always 
presenting a stormy and tempestuous voyage, and in this 
we were not altogether disappointed. Although it was 
considered a smooth passage the day we went over, the 
waters were rough enough to break in sprays clear over 
the top of the boat on which we traveled, and a number 
of people were well saturated. 

The boats which make the passage are side-wheel 
affairs, and are not built very high above the water. 
They fight the waves and the storms quite strenuously. 
It frequently transpires that practically everybody on 
board is sick, and on this voyage there were a number in 
this condition. As we braved the storm and stood out 
on the hurricane deck and took our share of the salt 
spray which came over the boat, we managed to weather 
the gale and came on to England 's shores in good health 
and good spirits. 

When we arrived at the landing in Dover, we found 
a long train drawn up for London. There was a red 

364 



IN LONDON 

carpet laid along the pier from the boat to the train. It 
was flanked on each side by a cordon of soldiers and 
was kept clear by a number of distinguished looking 
gentlemen, wearing Prince Albert coats and silk hats. 
We felt highly honored by being accorded such a re- 
ception, as we passed down between the lines of people, 
of which there appeared to be great numbers. We were 
somewhat disappointed, however, to find that this extra- 
ordinary preparation, while being lavished upon us, was 
really intended for the king of Siam and his seventeen 
wives, who had kept in pretty close touch with us along 
the route clear from Rome to London. 

We arrived at the Charing Cross station in London 
at about five o'clock in the evening, and, as the baggage 
is examined by the custom house officers here instead of 
at the frontier, there was considerable delay in getting 
out of the station. This place was much like any other 
large station, with the lots of noise, the smoking and 
snorting of engines, the bumping cars and the general 
clamor of hotel and cabmen. To get a proper convey- 
ance, get all your hand baggage together and get your 
trunk out of custody, requires considerable engineering 
and battling with the great crowd of people who are all 
trying to do the same thing. 

I was extremely fortunate at this time in falling 
under the wing of a very active gentleman. He was tall, 
fairly good looking and wore a short, cropped beard, a 
derby hat, and had very few of the characteristics that 
we usually attribute to Englishmen. He assisted me 
from the start, coming to my rescue when my wife had 
left her portmanteau in the coach, going with me to the 
customs officer, getting the number of my trunk, getting 
it passed without examination and shoving me out 

365 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

through the great doors of the station ahead of almost 
everybody else, besides giving me the names and stand- 
ing of all the hotels in the neighborhood. He was kind 
in his attentions and apparently knew exactly what he 
was about, and his assistance was greatly to my bene- 
fit in the scramble for trunks and luggage and carriages. 
I finally asked him his name and business, to which he 
replied that his name was Smith and that he was the 
chief detective at the station for the railway company 
from whose train I had just alighted. 

I could hardly figure out why, of all that great as- 
semblage of people, he selected me as the one to whom 
he devoted practically all of his attention. I could not 
determine whether it was because I had a more distin- 
guished air than the most of them, or whether it was be- 
cause I had a look of greater innocence, of unsophistica- 
tion, which is commonly summed up in the indefinable 
expression of "Hey Rube," but he told me that he had 
lived all of his life in London, had seen a good many 
people come and go from that station, and usually knew 
a good man when he saw him. I thanked him, bade 
him good-day, and was soon carried to our hotel, which 
was not at a great distance from the station, and where 
we were given a good room overlooking the Victoria 
embankments on the Thames river, and from which we 
could see the river, St. Paul's church, the great bridges 
of London and the other old landmarks that are famous 
in history and romance. 

IMMENSITY OF THE CITY 

We were now in London, the largest city in the 
world, as well as the greatest city, in many respects. 
Within what is called the city of London, there are from 

366 



CHARING CROSS 

5,000,000 to 7,000,000 people. It has been a settlement 
for more than two thousand years, and was a city of 
considerable size when Julius Caesar came over here at 
about the beginning of the Christian era to see what he 
could lay his hands on. 1 

It embraces in its history every epoch from ancient 
civilization through the dark ages and the modern his- 
tory of the world. There are more native inhabitants 
than are to be found in any other city on earth; there 
are enough Irish to make a great metropolis; enough 
Germans to make a large city ; enough Italians to people 
a whole colony, and more Jews than there are in all 
Palestine. 

Its architecture embraces the ancient, the modern, 
the medieval. Its streets are probably the most crowded 
in the world. Its bridges are among the most wonderful 
ever constructed in any place, and afford passage for 
more human beings than the bridges of any other city in 
the world. In the former days Eome ruled the world; 
in the latter days London, with her grime and smoke, 
occupies, in a political and commercial way, nearly the 
same distinction. 

All of these ideas forced themselves upon my mind 
when we were fully settled in our hotel and ready to 
start out and see the city. 

CHARING CROSS 

That part of London called Charing Cross, near 
where we stopped, is one of the busiest centers of the 
world. In connection with it are the station named 
after this place, the hotel and other important establish- 
ments. The place takes its name from an affectionate 
circumstance. There is a beautiful but begrimed mon- 

367 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

ument standing in a court in front of the Charing Cross 
hotel. It is surmounted by a cross, and although the 
monument has been rebuilt, a cross was built originally 
at this place by Edward I. more than six hundred years 
ago in memory of his wife, Eleanor, who accompanied 
him on his last crusade which was made for the capture 
of Palestine. She afterwards died in Lincoln, in Eng- 
land, and her body was conveyed to Westminster Abbey, 
where her ashes now rest. The cortege, on its way from 
Lincoln to "Westminster Abbey, rested at nine different 
points, and, at each stopping place, Edward erected a 
cross to her memory. 

Charing Cross was one of the stopping places, and 
that gave it the name it has gone by ever since. I pre- 
sume the place may have been known as Charing before 
the cross was erected, but the construction of this cross 
at this point completed the name as we find it to-day. 

There are some busy streets that meet and pass 
each other at Charing Cross. The Strand, Whitehall, 
Cockspur, Charing Cross Eoad and St. Martin street all 
meet here, while the Mall, Piccadilly, Pall Mall and a 
number of others are in close proximity. 

Adjoining Charing Cross is Trafalgar Square, 
which is called the nucleus of London. The square is an 
irregular opening with stone pavements covering it. 
There are several fountains in the opening, and in the 
center is a tall, fluted column surmounted by a statue of 
Admiral Nelson, who won his great victory at Trafalgar 
off the west coast of Spain in the year 1805. The base 
of the monument is square and on each of the four cor- 
ners are large bronze lions, and the whole design pre- 
sents an impressive and beautiful appearance. 

368 




THE LONDON BRIDGE. 

'The greatest of all is the one called the London bridge." — Page 369. 



GREAT BRIDGES 

Admiral Nelson, it will be remembered, was the 
English commander who, when he went into his great 
naval battle against France and Spain, signalled from 
his own flagship those immortal words, ''This day Eng- 
land expects every man to do his duty. ' ' Every man did 
do his duty, the battle was won, but Nelson fell in the 
engagement, and ever since the English people have re- 
membered him and his bravery with deep respect. 

GREAT BRIDGES 

The river Thames is wider than the river Seine of 
Paris, and, while its bridges are not so numerous, they 
are larger, heavier and accommodate more people than 
those of Paris, and, I believe, are more famous and 
better known in literature. The greatest of all these 
bridges is the one called the London bridge, which re- 
placed the old one of the same name. It was opened in 
1831, and cost eight million dollars. The lamp posts 
along the sides of this bridge are made of cannon cap- 
tured from the French in Spain. I think it is safe to 
say that this bridge accommodates more traffic than any 
other bridge in the world. The millions of people that 
pass over it in a year and the unestimated wealth that is 
hauled over it in the way of merchandise would amount, 
if known, to extremely large figures. 

There is another bridge not very far from this 
called the Tower bridge, which is conspicuous on ac- 
count of four very large and high towers, two on each 
side of the river, and a draw which is raised and lowered 
in the center between them. 

Crossing the river in the neighborhood of the house 
of parliament and the abbey is another great bridge, 
known as Westminster bridge, which is almost as famous 

369 
—24 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

as the two just named. Then there is Blackfriars 
bridge and the Waterloo bridge, both famous in stories 
of London. 

WELL KNOWN STREETS 

There are a number of streets in London which are 
pretty well known wherever the English language is 
spoken and wherever Dickens' novels are read. Among 
them are Piccadilly, which runs east from Hyde Park 
to Piccadilly Circus. 

In the irregular lay-out of London, there are a 
number of places where several streets meet, and where 
there are open circles, sometimes of irregular shape, that 
connect the streets that run in the various directions. 
These open spaces are called circuses, so when people 
speak of going to the circus in London they are not go- 
ing to see the elephant, the trick mule or the old clown, 
but are probably going to one of these open spaces to 
take a 'bus or some other conveyance for some other 
place. 

Piccadilly street has elegant mansions on one side 
and the green park on the other. Then there are Ox- 
ford, Regent and Bond streets, which are the shopping 
streets. There is the Strand, of which one always hears. 
While it is a busy street, one hundred yards or more 
from the river, its name is taken from the fact that it 
was once the shore line of the Thames, and for three 
hundred years the abode of the aristocracy of London, 
whose gardens sloped to the river, but it is now a busi- 
ness street, connecting a little farther on with Fleet 
street, which comes up to St. Paul's Cathedral. 

One of the odd sights in London is a little old 
church that stands in the center of Fleet street. The 
street at this place is widened out, and the 'buses and 

370 



THE 'BUS DRIVERS 

traffic in one direction go on one side of the church, and 
in the other direction on the other side. It is not a very 
large structure and is made of white stone. It stands on 
a raised piece of pavement which is pointed at both ends 
like a ship. The sidewalk on either side of the church is 
not over four feet in width, and on a muddy, wet day, 
this church, with its old style, odd tower, looks more like 
a modern battleship with its lookout towers, floating in 
the sea of mud and humanity surging and waving 
around its base, than it does like a house of worship. 

It is hard to imagine why this obstruction to the 
busy stream of traffic should stand as it does. Very few 
things, though, change in London, and the fact that this 
church has been here for several hundred years is likely 
to keep it here for several hundred years yet to come. 
Even St. Paul's Cathedral occupies an island similar to 
the one which I have just described, and is in the center 
of a great mass of traffic. 

THE 'BUS DRIVERS 

The street car systems of these older cities are not 
so complete as those of cities of similar size in America, 
and passengers are conveyed through the busy streets 
in omnibuses, which have seats on the roof as well as 
on the inside. There are hundreds and perhaps thou- 
sands of these omnibuses in use in London, and to oc- 
cupy a seat on top of one is a very pleasant mode of 
conveyance through the throngs that fill the busy 
thoroughfares. You can sit on one of these and, as far 
as the eye can reach, see processions of them in every di- 
rection which makes it appear as though the city had 
turned out and was enjoying one grand picnic. The 
horse 'buses, however, are being rapidly superseded by 

371 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

the automobile 'buses, which are more powerful, carry 
more passengers and are more rapid. While this has 
given the city an appearance of more hustle and busi- 
ness it has taken away much of the poetical side, if it 
may be so termed, of the conveyances of London. 

The 'bus driver of London is a character different 
from almost any other personage on the face of the 
earth. To sit next him on a trip and get the benefit of 
his knowledge is worth an extra fare, which he usually 
expects if he gives you much attention. He is always 
accommodating and pleased to call one's attention to 
the various points of interest on his route, all of which 
he has time to explain no matter how busy he may be, 
and he is usually pretty busy in threading his way 
among the other conveyances that occupy the street. 
But he is doomed, like the other institutions of a past 
generation which he represents, and is gradually giving 
way to the new regime. 

One of the last nights that we were in London, as 
we rolled down the broad thoroughfare under a bright 
moon, we sat next to the driver, and had quite a con- 
versation with him. It was late at night and the great 
throng had largely disappeared from the street. The 
driver was in a talkative mood and told us that for 
many years he had driven over that route, but that this 
was his last week, as the automobiles were taking the 
place of the 'buses, and at the end of this week he and 
his 'bus and horses would be displaced by one of the 
devil wagons which are now filling up the streets and 
taking the place of him and his kind. He had saved a 
little money, and, having read of the beauties of farm- 
ing and the advantages of Canada, at the end of that 
week he was going to bid farewell to his old home in 

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HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT 

London and go way out into western Canada to make a 
new start in a new life. 

There was a sort of sadness in his melancholy story 
of having to leave his old home, but he was full of 
optimism and hope for the future, away off in the new 
country, where his environs would be so different. After 
all, I could not help thinking it was probably best for 
him, because there would still be plenty of people left in 
London, and I sincerely wished in my heart that he 
would meet with the success which he anticipated. 

BREAKING INTO PARLIAMENT 

One of the first places I visited in London was 
the House of Parliament. The building in which the 
governing bodies of England hold their sessions is a 
wonderfully peculiar structure. It is built more in 
the style of church architecture than what we usually 
expect to find in a public state building. It is scat- 
tered for one thousand feet along the river bank and 
embraces, I guess, about all styles and schools of ar- 
chitecture. It has two great towers, one called the 
Victoria tower, three hundred and forty feet high, at 
one end, and at the other end the Clock tower, almost 
as high, and which carries somewhere in it the great 
bell, weighing thirteen tons, which is nicknamed "Big 
Ben." For many years this bell had no rival on the 
face of the globe. 

This great building contains eleven courts or 
open spaces, one hundred staircases, two miles of cor- 
ridors, and one thousand, one hundred apartments. 
It is full of statues, carved woodwork and many 
works of art, antiquity and glory. It is full of offi- 
cials and enough policemen to make up a force for 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

a large city. The chief business of these policemen 
appears to be to keep people out of the hall of parlia- 
ment and the House of Lords, and they are scattered 
along clear from the arched door, which is the en- 
trance from the street, to the doors of that house, and 
protect the statesmen when in session. 

I went to the House of Parliament when there 
was considerable excitement in both branches. A 
resolution had been introduced which practically elim- 
inated the House of Lords, and the discussion on 
that subject elicited much interest and many people 
were anxious to get into the galleries of the lower 
house at that time. I was met at the street door by 
two policemen. Upon informing them that I wanted 
to see the House of Parliament in session, they told 
me that it was against the rules for visitors to pass 
through except by invitation, but, as I invited myself, 
they allowed me to go on to the next bevy of police 
officers. 

I was here intercepted by another one of the 
officers and asked my business, which I explained, 
telling him that I was a newspaper man from Spring- 
field, 111. He said he didn't know about that, but 
that they would lift the lid enough to let me go on to 
the next set of police. Here I was stopped by a bigger 
policeman than I had yet seen, who said I could not 
proceed farther unless I had business with some of the 
members of parliament or had a card from one of the 
members. But he added that if I wished to have my 
card put in the hands of any particular member, he 
would be pleased to send it in for me, but I would 
have to name the member to whom I wanted my card 

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HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT 

delivered. As I could not think of any member of 
parliament of whom I had ever heard except Sir 
Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who was then making a 
great address, I was somewhat taken back. This offi- 
cer told me, however, that there would be no use in 
sending in a card, as the interest in the movement 
now before the house was so great that the galleries 
were overflowing and no permits could be issued, and 
that all the members except a few from some remote 
Irish districts were overwhelmed with applications. 

About this time this officer was called in some 
other direction, and, catching on to the suggestion 
conveyed by his information, I immediately deter- 
mined to put myself in communication with some 
member from a remote Irish district. I stepped up to 
another officer and asked him if he had seen any 
Irish member of parliament going down the long cor- 
ridor recently, on which we were now standing. He 
replied that he thought he had recently seen the Hon. 
Mr. 'Ogan, of North Tipperary, going that way. 
Thanking him for his information, I stepped up the 
line to a still taller policeman than any I had met be- 
fore and asked him if he would kindly take my card 
to Mr. Hogan, of North Tipperary, now in the House 
of Parliament. 

He disappeared and in a few minutes a little, old- 
fashioned Irish gentleman, with short-cropped, stub- 
by, gray whiskers and wearing a plug hat that would 
do full justice to a St. Patrick's day parade, came out 
of the doors of the forbidden land, stopped and hand- 
ed a small card, which I thought I recognized, to one 
of the policemen who were holding back the crowd. 

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SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

The little old man then straightened up, pnlled a snuff- 
box from his pocket, took a pinch of snuff, and, as he 
did so, the officer called out twice in a loud voice my 
sure enough name. 

I stepped forward and said, "Mr. Hogan, I be- 
lieve." He said, "Yes, sir." I then handed him a 
very cordial letter of introduction that had been pre- 
, sented to me by Governor Deneen before leaving 
home. Mr. Hogan took the letter, read it through 
from start to finish, and said, "So you are from Illi- 
ni? Do you know where Chicago is in that state?" 
and when I told him "Very well," he replied: "I have 
a brother living in Chicago, and I am right glad to see 
a man from your state and if you ever go to Chicago 
I want you to tell my brother that you saw me, ' ' to all 
of which I assented. But another thought occurred to 
him, and he said, "How did you come to send for 
me?" to which I responded in a very truthful manner, 
that I had heard of him as a member of parliament. 
Of course, I did not mention how recently, nor just 
where or when I had happened to hear of him. How- 
ever, he appeared to feel considerably elated to think 
that his reputation probably had spread out as far as 
Illinois. 

The old gentleman then took me in charge, 
showed me all through the House of Parliament, and, 
while we could not get in the galleries, owing to the 
crowd, he took me in on the ground floor of the House 
of Lords, pointed out all the distinguished characters 
there, and showed me the lord high chancellor, who 
sits on the woolsack and controls the destinies of Eng- 
land. Mr. Hogan was extremely cordial and invited 

376 



HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT 

me to come back the next day with all of the friends 
I had in London, promising me the best treatment the 
house could afford. I have always regretted that a 
severe storm prevented me from taking advantage of 
this kind offer, and when I go to Chicago I am going 
to make it a point to hunt up Mr. Hogan's brother. 



377 



Chapter XXV 



ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 

Eight in the whirlpool of business near the bank 
of London, the Royal Exchange and the postoffice — 
dignified and massive in its architectural proportions, 
but begrimed by smoke and soot, and bare and cheer- 
less in both its exterior and interior, stands St. Paul's 
Cathedral. It is an immense building, constructed in 
the form of a Latin cross. It is over five hundred feet 
in length and two hundred feet through at the widest 
part. It has a dome similar to that of the national 
capitol at Washington, which is one hundred and eighty 
feet in diameter and measures, to the top of the cross 
with which it is surmounted, four hundred and four 
feet. There are few churches in the world larger than 
St. Paul's. 

In addition to being used as a place of worship, 
it is the resting place of the bodies of a number of great 
men of England, mostly military heroes, although there 
are the ashes of professional men and poets as well. 
Among those who rest in this great church are the Duke 
of Wellington, Lord Nelson, General Pakenham, Sir 
John Moore, Lord Rodney, Dr. Johnson and others. 
The hearse in which Wellington's body was transported 
is in the basement of this church, and there are a num- 
ber of other things of interest, including a considerable 
library and a great organ. 

We attended worship in this edifice, but, as we were 

378 



THE BANK OF LONDON 

so far away from the minister and the person who read 
the lesson, we could not hear what either of them said, 
but a service in this church cannot but be impressive. 
You sit or stand among people from all parts of the 
world, and the stone coffins of the departed heroes of 
England lie close to you along the sides and in the 
crypts. It is such a somber performance to worship in 
either Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's that after at- 
tending services in both, I resolved not to go to any 
other church for some time, and I can say that I have 
almost kept that promise. 

St. Paul's has a great bell, and Dickens, in his 
stories, has much to say of this bell and this church. 
It was built about the end of the seventeenth century 
by levying a tax on every ton of coal that came to Lon- 
don. No doubt the government, for this is of the 
Church of England, thought it was proper to punish the 
coal barons for bringing coal in to smudge and smoke 
up London, but the coal people have got even with St. 
Paul's, for they have smeared it with soot and grime 
ever since the first day that it was built, until it looks 
woefully tearful at the present time. It appears that 
the rain always comes from one direction in London, so 
that the columns of St. Paul's and other public build- 
ings are washed white on one side, while being black on 
the other. I noticed this peculiarity in all the buildings 
of London and the white contrast makes the dark soot 
look that much blacker. 

THE BANK OF LONDON 

Going from St. Paul's a short distance, I came to 
the Bank of London. This great financial institution 
is housed in a stone building with fluted columns, but is 

379 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

not a very pretentious looking affair. There were some 
uniformed guards at the main entrance which I passed 
and, without announcing my business, of which I had 
none, I walked hurriedly through the main corridors 
and offices of the institution. There were not so many 
people in the bank, nor was there such an air of rush 
business as I expected to find. In the interior of the 
building is an open court, in the center of which is a 
fountain, and around the fountain there are some small, 
scrubby trees, that look as though they were fighting for 
an existence in the center of this financial world. 

TUPPENCE AND THREPPENCE 

The pronunciation of the various money terms 
which are used by the thoroughbred Londoners is very 
confusing to an American visitor. For instance, when 
they mean two pennies they say "tuppence," the u in 
tuppence having the same sound as it has in the 
word cup, and the two words, two and pence, being 
thrown so close together that a stranger ean hardly 
recognize the word "tuppence" as having any meaning 
in common with the word two pence, or two pennies. 

There is a song very popular in Italy called "Funi- 
culi Funicula." It is also sung in America, but it was 
drummed into my ears so persistently when I was in 
Italy that I concluded to get a copy of it if I could. I 
was told that I could procure it in a certain store in 
London. This store was on Paternoster Eow, which is 
famous for its book trade, and is located near the 
Cathedral of St. Paul. I found the little street by go- 
ing through a narrow alley about six feet wide between 
two big buildings. 

Entering the store, which was full of sheet music, 

380 



MY FATHER'S HOUSE 

that was being handed out by several clerks, I stepped 
up to one of the counters and asked the gentleman be- 
hind it if he could furnish me with the Italian song with 
the above title. Without making a move, he replied 
very promptly, " One-an-threppence. " I asked again if 
he had the song, to which he again made the same reply. 
I then asked him to tell me in English exactly what 
he meant, and he explained that he meant that he had 
the song, that he would get it for me immediately if I 
wanted it, and that the price was one shilling and three 
pence. This is very simple when you know it, but it is 
very difficult when you ask a man if he has got a thing 
to understand what he means when he comes back at you 
with the simple proposition, "one-an-threppence." 

MY FATHER'S HOUSE 

My father was born near St. Paul's Cathedral and 
I thought while I was in London, I would visit his old 
home. The house stands on Finnsbury Square, which 
is a small park surrounded by an iron fence. As the 
park is the property of the owners of the houses which 
front on that square, in former days each family that 
lived fronting on the park had a key to the iron gate 
which enclosed it. 

The houses are built in rows as they are in resi- 
dence districts of most large cities. They are all alike, 
are each four stories high, besides a basement half above 
ground, and are numbered clear around the square, 
commencing with Number 1 and ending with about 
Number 60. The house where my father was born was 
Number 45. Of course I got off at the wrong corner of 
the square, and had to follow clear around the block to 
come to the number which I wanted to find. 

381 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

As I came up to the somber old house that had stood 
there over a century, I naturally had some peculiar feel- 
ings which would likely come upon persons when they 
have found a place of which they have always heard 
with reverence and have never seen. I went up the few 
stairs on the outside to the main landing to the parlor 
floor. There was a number of push buttons and speak- 
ing tubes that connected with the upper apartments, 
one of which was marked "The Housekeeper." I 
pushed the button indicated by this label and imme- 
diately in the parlor at my left was heard the sound 
of music from a brass band of considerable proportions. 
I was both surprised and delighted to think that I was 
welcomed to my father's old home with such a genuine 
display of melody and musical enthusiasm. 

About this time a little, old, gray haired man, who 
seemed to belong to a past generation, came down the 
upper stairs in response to my signal on the bell. I 
asked him if he was the housekeeper, to which he re- 
plied no, that he was the janitor, that the housekeeper 
was out and that the building was an office building oc- 
cupied by lawyers, doctors and real estate men, but that 
none of them were in at that hour of the day. I told 
him that my father was born in that house, but instead 
of meeting me cordially, he looked at me with apparently 
considerable suspicion and I do not think he believed 
what I said, and, evidently thinking I had some designs 
on the house, he backed off upstairs, and that was the 
last I saw of him. 

The door from the hallway into the parlor from 
which the sounds of music continued with unabated 
fury, was of the double-spring pattern, having spring 

382 



MY FATHER'S HOUSE 

hinges which allowed the door to swing either in or 
out. I took the handle of the door and started to 
open it, but as I did so, a man on the other side 
grabbed it and jerked it shut more violently than I 
had opened it. I narrowly escaped having my head 
caught between the door and the jamb, and I returned 
the compliment by giving the door a jerk back and 
came about as near catching the other fellow as he 
had me. After a slight tug-of-war between us, dur- 
ing which the door vibrated actively back and forth, 
he finally slipped through the crack and got out into 
the hallway and asked me what I wanted. I told him 
that I did not want anything, but that my father was 
born in that house, and that I would like to thank him 
for the grand serenade on my home-coming. He did 
not seem pleased and informed me that he was not 
serenading me but was operating a company for the 
making of records to use in phonographs, and that it 
required absolute silence in order to get perfect rec- 
ords. He presumed already the slamming of that 
door and our conversation would be found in the middle 
of one of the most superb marches that had ever been 
produced for phonographic instruments. 

This ended the conversation, the gentleman re- 
treated into the music room, while I went on upstairs, 
found all the offices locked and all of the tenants 
probably out to lunch. I think by this time the jani- 
tor was fully armed and ready to call the police to rid 
the premises of my presence, so I came away. 

I find, after all, there is not much satisfaction in 
looking for the house of your father in this world and 
I have concluded it is better to look for your father's 
house in the world to come than in this one, for there, 

383 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

we are told, are many mansions, while in my father's 
house in London there are only lawyers, doctors, real 
estate men, and other people bent on commercial pur- 
suits. 

WESTMINSTER ABBEY 

While I have this religious streak on me, I might 
as well take up Westminster Abbey. Next to St. 
Peter's, of Kome, Westminster Abbey is, perhaps, the 
best-known church in the world. It has been a place 
of worship for thirteen hundred years, and parts of 
the present structure date from the year 1065. It is 
just across the street from the House of Parliament. 
It was founded on the site of a temple to Apollo. All 
the sovereigns of England since the days of Harold 
have been crowned in Westminster Abbey. It is not 
such a large structure, being only four hundred and 
sixteen feet in length, and its towers two hundred and 
twenty feet high, but it is a good specimen of Gothic 
architecture and its vaulted stone ceiling is a very re- 
markable work. 

It is the resting place for either the bodies or the 
ashes of more of the world's illustrious dead than can 
be found at any one place. Even a list of those rest- 
ing here would be so long it would become tiresome 
to follow it through. There are tombs and stone re- 
ceptacles in every niche and corner. Every foot of the 
stone paving in its floors covers the body of someone 
who has helped to make the world's history. In this 
church I have walked over the graves of such men as 
Gladstone, Dickens, Dr. Watts, Livingstone, Darwin, 
Macaulay, Addison, Thackeray, Garrick, Milton, Dry- 
den, Disraeli, Tennyson, Goldsmith, Handel and kings 
and queens innumerable, stepping from the grave of 

384 




POETS CORNER. 

"Westminster Abbey is the resting place of more of the world's illus- 
trious dead than any other one place." — Page 384. 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY 

one of these illustrious men onto that of another, as 
they were so closely associated that sometimes I would 
have one foot treading on the grave of one of them be- 
fore the other foot had been lifted from the last. 

There are statues without number. The chapel of 
Henry VIIL, built in 1502, alone is made up of five 
smaller chapels containing one thousand statues. 

One part of this church is closed off by an iron 
railing, and guides are employed to show people 
through. It is filled with the stone enclosures or sar- 
cophagi of the kings, queens and princes of England, 
and the guide tells a long and pathetic story, full of 
blood-curdling recitals, of the tragedies that have been 
connected with the royal families of England. In 
these tombs are the bodies of the greatest murderers 
that England can boast, for the greatest murderers of 
England have not been brigands and highwaymen but 
have been those who occupied its throne. There are 
also the bodies of the murdered, as well as the bodies 
of those who did the work. Year after year, and cen- 
tury after century, grim death brought these royal 
personages here under many and varied circumstances, 
where they await the final trump of Gabriel's horn. 

One of the interesting curiosities of Westminster 
is the so-called ' ' Stone of Destiny. ' ' England got this 
stone in 1297 and before that it was used by the kings 
of Scotland in the coronations. Every ruler of Eng- 
land since 1297 has been crowned in the chair which 
encloses this stone. It appears to be a chunk of sand- 
stone of irregular shape, about ten inches thick and 
two feet square. It is in the base of a chair that has 
been built around it, and both the stone and the chair 
are sort of unfinished and uncouth-looking affairs. 

385 

—25 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

How it gained the degree of superstition which sur- 
rounds it, I am not prepared to say, but it has been 
used now for over six hundred years in the crowning 
of the kings and queens of England. 

I have my serious doubts as to whether it will be 
used for that purpose six hundred years hence. The 
king of England is a very useless and expensive piece 
of official furniture, and I think that before many 
years the people of England will find this out. In 
fact, they know it already, and it is only a question of 
when they will act on the knowledge which they have 
gained by a vast expenditure of money and patience. 

There are better uses that this stone could be put 
to than for the crowning of the sovereigns of Great 
Britain. It has outlasted its usefulness in that re- 
spect, and with the demise of the present ruler of this 
country, or even before that time, it might be used to 
advantage as one of the foundation stones for build- 
ing a monument to liberty, and become the corner- 
stone of one of the greatest republics on the face of 

the globe. 

HYDE PARK AND KENSINGTON 

Near the center of London is Hyde Park, adjoining 
Kensington Gardens, surrounding the palace of that 
name. There is practically no difference between the 
so-called gardens and the park, the gardens being the 
large grounds, with green sward and natural forest trees, 
surrounding the royal palace. Running through these 
two pieces of ground is a small lake, elongated and some- 
what irregular in its shape, usually called the Serpen- 
tine. The two pieces of ground embrace about six hun- 
dred acres, and it is a great relief to come upon such a 
beautiful open space in the heart of this immense city. 

386 



HYDE PARK AND KENSINGTON 

Running along on one side of Hyde Park is the 
famous drive known as Eotten Row. As there is noth- 
ing rotten in that locality and no row except the shrub- 
bery along the edge of the drive, it is difficult to asso- 
ciate the peculiar name and the beautiful drive in your 
mind at the same time. I presume, however, that this 
name may have aptly described, at some time in its 
history, what it so misappropriately perpetuates at the 
present time. 

In the Kensington Gardens, near the park, is the 
memorial erected by the late Queen Victoria, to her 
husband, Prince Albert. It is one of the richest monu- 
ments in the world. It is of the Gothic style, being a 
tall structure similar to an ornamental church spire, 
and is one hundred and seventy-five feet high, and deco- 
rated with mosaics of many colors. The base is in the 
shape of a canopy and under this is a most excellent 
statue of the prince, which is made of marble and stands 
fifteen feet high. Around the base of the monument are 
one hundred and sixty-nine life size marble statues in 
bas-relief of the great men in all walks of life, art, mili- 
tary, literature, invention, etc. On the corners of the 
landing surrounding the monument are four splendid 
groups of statuary in marble, representing Europe, 
Asia, Africa and America. This monument was a trib- 
ute from the Queen and could hardly be considered a 
national monument of England, for Prince Albert 
figured in England only as Queen Victoria's husband, 
being a German by birth. 

At the Victoria entrance to Kensington Gardens is 
a little building called a lodge, which, I presume, has 
been erected for the gate keeper's use. Adjoining this 
is the Dog Cemetery. It appears that one of the 

387 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

princes of England, who was very fond of dogs, suf- 
fered the loss of one of his favorites, which he buried 
in the lot adjoining this Lodge. Some of his friends 
and other admirers of dogs asked permission to bury 
their dogs there, and the practice has continued until 
there is a considerable dog cemetery there now. Each 
dog is allowed a little space, ordinarily about one foot 
by three feet, and at each grave there is a little head- 
stone, which, however, is usually made of wood and 
painted white, to represent marble, on which the name, 
the age, some of the history of the dog, and some ap- 
propriate sentiment are usually recorded. 

It is the most touching tribute of love to man's 
faithful friend that I have ever encountered, and no 
doubt the sod covering the remains of some of them has 
been watered by the tears of the owners of the dogs that 
are buried here. 

OLD CURIOSITY SHOP 

Not very far from Kensington Gardens is the Old 
Curiosity Shop made famous by Dickens' story of 
"Little Nell." This is a little coop on an irregular cor- 
ner not over ten or twelve feet wide by twenty or 
twenty-five feet in length, and is now devoted to the 
sale of photographs of the premises and the collection 
of old paper, rags and junk. Probably as many visit- 
ors find their way to the Old Curiosity Shop as go to 
almost any other point in London, for Dickens has made 
this little shop a part of the common heritage of man- 
kind. I was informed that the little house is likely to 
be torn down and replaced by modern buildings. I 
truly hope that this will not be done, for the loss of the 
Old Curiosity Shop would be an almost irreparable ca- 

388 



LONDON THEATRES 

lamity. The people of London can afford to pay what- 
ever the little shop is worth, and let it stand as it is, 
and just as it was in the days when Dickens wrote so 
pathetically the story of "Little Nell." 

LONDON THEATRES 

The theatres in London, at the time we were there, 
were nearly all crowded. Their prices are about the 
same as the prices at any of the first-class amusement 
houses in New York or Chicago. All the theatres in 
Europe employ young lady ushers and all of them sell 
their programmes, the proceeds of which go to the 
ushers who take care of the seating. In London these 
programmes sell for six pence each, which is the equiva- 
lent of twelve cents in our money, and, as they contain 
only the names of the actors and the characters which 
they represent, without even a synopsis, and are filled 
with advertising matter, it makes the price at least as 
much as they are worth. 

We went one night to a performance at the Savoy 
theatre. The Savoy theatre adjoins the hotel of the 
same name. The hotel is among the most fashionable in 
London and this house has the reputation of being 
among the best. I think the opinion in general of the 
house, however, is better than it deserves. The main au- 
ditorium cannot be much more than forty feet in dimen- 
sions in either direction, and above the main floor there 
are four galleries or balconies, so that a person in the 
top gallery looks almost straight down on the heads of 
the actors on the stage. It is one of the most unsatisfac- 
tory places to enjoy an entertainment that could well 
be devised, nor is it particularly elaborate, and yet, it 
was so completely filled that we could only secure seats 

in the balcony. 

J 389 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

This house is operated by a woman and presents 
only Gilbert and Sullivan operas, which appear to be 
very popular in England, although the basis of nearly 
all of them is ridicule of the English system of govern- 
ment. Just in front of the hotel and opera house, in the 
park on the Victoria embankment, is a bronze statue of 
the late Sir Arthur Sullivan, the Irish wit, who was the 
joint author, with Mr. Gilbert, of these operas. 

The opera house is reached by a little street leading 
from the Strand with a very steep decline toward the 
river Thames. The night we attended the opera at this 
house was stormy and the rain had come down in a driz- 
zle all day. The street leading down by the opera house 
was paved with asphalt and a film of mud on it made it 
quite slippery. 

As we came out from the performance a driver with 
a hansom cab came rapidly down this little street in an 
endeavor to secure us or somebody else for a trip. He 
was in such a hurry to get ahead of all rivals, as he came 
down the hill, that when he came to the opera house 
door and jerked up his horses, the momentum was so 
great that the horses simply sat down and the rig, horses, 
driver and all went as though they were on a toboggan 
slide all the rest of the way down the little street 
and nearly to the bank of the river. It is hardly neces- 
sary to say that he didn't catch a passenger as he 
went by. 

UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS 

London has a very complete system of underground 
railways. It was the first city in the world to adopt this 
means of transportation, but, while it was the pioneer in 
this line, and while the system may embrace more mile- 
age and be more complete in that respect, it is not nearly 

390 



FAMILIAR SIGNS 

so clean nor are the trains operated so rapidly as they 
are in the subway in New York city. The stations are 
badly disfigured with all kinds and shapes of billboards 
and advertising matter put up in a slovenly and irregu- 
lar manner. 

The subway in New York skims along just under 
the surface of the streets. In most places I do not think 
the surface of the street is more than two or three feet 
above the arch of the underground tunnel. I was sur- 
prised, therefore, on alighting from an underground, or 
subway, train in London, to find that they had great 
elevators to carry the people to the surface of the street. 
I thought it was hardly necessary to take an elevator to 
get from an underground railway onto the street sur- 
face, so I started up the steps, but I found, before I 
reached daylight, that I climbed a stairway built in 
circles round and round, that would have brought me, if 
it had been an ordinary building, to at least the fifth or 
sixth story. After that when I saw an elevator leading 
up from an underground railway station, I availed my- 
self of the opportunity to ride in it, which privilege was 
accorded without any additional fare. 

FAMILIAR SIGNS, ETC. 

A great many of the mercantile houses of America 
have branches in all the large cities of Europe, and all 
the leading Chicago and New York papers have offices 
along Fleet street in London, so it makes one feel quite 
at home while riding along the street, to come in front of 
the office of the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Trib- 
une, the Chicago Record-Herald, the Brooklyn Eagle, 
the New York World, the New York Journal, the New 

391 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

York Herald, or other names that are so familiar to us 
in the United States. 

The drinking habit appears to be quite prevalent in 
London. There are many drinking saloons, a large pro- 
portion of them being of a rather low order. Women 
frequent these saloons and stand up at the bar and 
drink along with the men. I saw more women engaged 
in drinking in London in the few days that I was there 
than I would see in America in the same number of 
years, and it was not necessary to go into the saloons to 
see them step up to the bar and take their drinks, for 
most of the bars are open and exposed to view from the 
streets. 

There are a large number of policemen in London, 
but they are not so good looking as our policemen, their 
uniforms are not made of as good cloth and the style of 
their dress is not nearly equal to that of the metropoli- 
tan police in the larger cities of America. They look 
more like the members of amateur military companies 
than they do like full-fledged city policemen. They do 
not wear the elegant Prince Albert coats with the shiny 
brass buttons that we are used to in our country. They 
are, however, exceedingly well informed, and are al- 
ways courteous and ready to impart information in a 
respectful and painstaking manner. 



392 



Chapter XXVI 



THE TOWER OF LONDON 

Everybody who visits London goes to see the Tower, 
which, by the way, is not a tower in the singular sense, 
as the name might imply, but is a cluster of fortifica- 
tions, barracks, a palace and a prison, with a great 
number of towers. It is surrounded by a moat, outside 
of which is a narrow strip of grass, which serves to give 
the whole institution a somewhat restful appearance. 
The tower was erected in 1078 by William the Con- 
queror as a fortification for the purpose of protecting 
and controlling the city. 

It stands on the banks of the Thames river and 
covers in all an area of eighteen acres, so it is readily 
seen that it is more than would be implied simply by the 
name, "the Tower of London." The different parts of 
the structure are designated as the Bloody tower, the 
White tower, the Wakefield tower, the Waterloo bar- 
racks, the Chapel, the Casemate, the Flint tower, Bow- 
yers tower, the Brick tower, Martin tower, the Constable 
tower, Salt tower, Brassmount battery, North bastion, 
Site of the Scaffold, Armory, etc. 

The place was used as a palace by all of the kings 
and queens of England down to Charles II. It was the 
old custom of the monarchs to lodge in the Tower before 
their coronation and to ride in procession to West- 
minster to be crowned. It frequently occurred that those 
who would be monarchs of England rested within these 

393 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

walls in irons and were taken forth, not to the corona- 
tion, but to the chopping block, where their heads were 
severed from their bodies. I do not propose, at this time, 
to give a list of all those who were beheaded within the 
walls of these fortifications. It would be too long and 
too sad, and, in some respects, too unreliable, but it is 
known that among the victims who suffered here were 
Queen Anne Boleyn; Margaret, countess of Salisbury; 
Queen Catherine, Lady Jane Grey, Robert Devereux, 
Lord Hastings, the Duke of Northumberland, Lord Guil- 
ford Dudley, Cromwell, the Earl of Essex and a large 
number of others. 

The tower is largely used at the present time as a 
museum for the display of armor and other things that 
have more or less connection with the history of 
England. One of the most interesting collections is the 
crown jewels. The so-called king's crown is on exhibi- 
tion in a glass case with the other jewels. It was made 
in 1838 for her majesty, the late Queen Victoria. The 
principal jewels were taken from older crowns and from 
the royal collection. 

Among the gems of which it is made there is the 
large ruby given to the Black Prince in Spain in 1367. 
Henry V. wore it in his helmet at Agincourt. This, with 
seventy-five large diamonds, forms a Maltese cross on 
the front of the diadem. Below this is a splendid sap- 
phire purchased by George IV. Seven other sapphires 
and eight emeralds, all of large size, with hundreds of 
diamonds, decorate the band and arches and the sum- 
mit of the cross is formed by a rose-cut sapphire and 
four very large diamonds. The whole contains two 
thousand, eight hundred and eighteen diamonds, two 
hundred and ninety-seven fine pearls and many other 

394 



OLD ARMOR 

jewels, and weighs over two and a half pounds. The 
crown was enlarged to fit the head of the present king 
of England, which would seem to indicate that the king 
probably at the time of his coronation was suffering 
from enlargement of the head. 

There are other crowns that were used to decorate 
the heads of other monarchs at the time of their coro- 
nation. There are coronets and orbs of gold, and Sir 
Edward's scepter, a staff of gold four feet seven inches 
in length, which is surmounted by an orb said to contain 
a fragment of the true cross. There are many other 
jewels and pieces of gold bric-a-brac which were used 
either in the coronations or religious services connected 
with the royal family of England ; enough of them alto- 
gether to stock up a pretty good sized jewelry store. 

OLD ARMOR 

What interested me more than almost anything else 
in the Tower of London was the display of ancient 
armor. The amount of work put upon these suits of 
steel worn by the warriors of old is truly remarkable, 
and how anybody could do any fighting to any ad- 
vantage while encased in one of these sword-proof suits 
is something that I could hardly figure out. Take the 
suit of Henry VIII. for instance, that weighs ninety- 
three pounds and is composed of two hundred and 
thirty-five separate pieces of metal, and there are others 
probably heavier and more complicated. 

The making of one of these to fit the individual 
for whom it was designed required great skill. When 
you consider how difficult it is to get a tailor to make 
you a suit of clothes that will fit you perfectly when all 
he has to do is to take a piece of flexible cloth and a pair 

395 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

of scissors and cut it out and sew it together, you will 
realize how difficult it must have been for those old me- 
chanics or boiler-plate tailors, to make a suit of sheet 
steel, joined together with rivets, hinges and links of 
chain, and make it fit the body perfectly, but they did it, 
and did it mighty well, as these suits that have remained 
here all these years will testify. 

Every now and then one of these warriors would 
get fat, just as the colonels in the regular army do at the 
present time, and would outgrow his suit of armor just 
as we society fellows outgrow our dress suits in modern 
times. In that event, the boiler-plate tailors would have 
to be brought in and either enlarge the old suit or make 
a new one in its place, so that there are on display here 
sometimes three or four suits of three or four sizes that 
were made for the same fellow. I should judge, how- 
ever, that after some of the humiliating defeats which 
they suffered, no matter how big or how fat they were 
when they went into battle they would foel so small 
when they came out that they could crawl back into the 
smallest suit of armor that was ever made for them. 

This armor is kept in excellent condition, is polished 
until it shines, is oiled and rubbed almost every day in 
the year, and is apparently in just as good condition 
now as it was when made. Each suit is numbered or 
named for the person who wore it and the arrangements 
for taking care of them show the thoroughness of the 
English manner of doing things. 

BOUQUETS OF BAYONETS 

Another interesting sight in the Tower of London 
is a display of swords, bayonets and pieces of guns. 
These are woven into bouquets and mural decorations 

396 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM 

and display the very greatest skill in their arrangement. 
A cluster of swords stands up like a sheaf of wheat, or a 
lot of bayonets like some great flower from the prairies. 
Borders are constructed of gun hammers, and the va- 
rious pieces of rifles are arranged in such an ingenious 
manner that one can stand and look at them by the hour 
in open-mouthed astonishment. 

There are also objects of torture displayed in the 
museum, the sight of which would freeze the marrow in 
your bones or stop the blood in your veins. But we can- 
not describe in detail all the objects of interest in the 
Tower of London; as they say in the advertisements of 
department stores in our country, ' ' These goods must be 
seen to be appreciated." 

THE BRITISH MUSEUM 

We spent several interesting hours in the British 
museum, and I must confess that we did not see every- 
thing in this valuable collection. We did, however, see 
some remarkable specimens of art, architecture, bronze, 
antiques, and the handiwork of people who lived many 
years ago. There apparently were enough mummies 
from Egypt to stock up a considerable graveyard. There 
were the portrait heads of Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Nero, 
Titus and other distinguished Romans. 

There were Greek sculptures from the great Temple 
of Diana at Ephesus, built three hundred and thirty 
years before Christ, and standing when Paul went to 
preach in that city. Then a certain man named Deme- 
trius, a silversmith, who made shrines for Diana, seeing 
that his business would go to pieces if the Christian re- 
ligion became general, called the other silversmiths 
together and formed a trust and caused the people 

397 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

to cry out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." And 
the Scriptures tell us that at the second outbreak of the 
people, for a period of two hours, they continually 
cried out, ' ' Great is Diana of the Ephesians, ' ' and Saint 
Paul thereafter called the disciples to him and embraced 
them and departed to go into Macedonia. But, as they 
say, that is another story, and we will return to the 
museum. 

We stood before the statue of the great Rameses, 
who reigned in his glory thirteen hundred years before 
Christ, and who was one of the Pharaohs who oppressed 
the children of Israel ; and near this is the great Rosetta 
stone, the finding of which unlocked the mysterious and 
hitherto unknown hieroglyphics of Egypt and gave to 
the present generations practically a history of that 
ancient and remarkable country, which had been locked 
up against mankind for a matter of two thousand years. 

We examined sculptures from the ancient cities of 
Assyria, from the palace of King Ashur-nasir-pal, and 
the sculptures from Nineveh, and feathers and buckskin 
suits that had been worn by the wild Indians of North 
America, and many other objects dating from the 
present age to four thousand years or more agone. 

There are in one of the rooms of the British museum 
two especially valuable little pieces. One is the cele- 
brated Portland vase, which is made of glass of two 
colors, the ground being carved away, showing a black 
ground with white raised figures standing out similar to 
the figures on cameo pins. A few years ago a fellow 
knocked this vase over and broke it into more than a 
score of pieces, but it was put together with cement and 
is still considered one of the most valuable vases on the 
face of the globe. 

398 



MARK TWAIN 

Near this is a little gold cup that was formerly used 
in the coronations of the kings of England. A card at- 
tached to this shows that it was purchased for the 
museum at an expenditure of over sixty thousand dol- 
lars in gold. 

The specimens of book-work, old Bibles, printed 
centuries ago, ornamented and illuminated by hand, and 
the book bindings are truly wonderful. But I again fall 
down, lacking words and time to describe what can be 
seen in the British Muesum, so I will leave the rest for 
my friends to go and see when they have the time. 

MARK TWAIN 

The most talked of person in London at the time we 
were there was our fellow-countryman, America's great 
humorist, Samuel L. Clemens, ordinarily known as Mark 
Twain. He was being entertained by Whitelaw Reid, 
King Edward and other capitalists of America and 
royalists of England. He was, apparently, having a 
very pleasant time. I did not have the pleasure of meet- 
ing him here, although I enjoyed that honor once in the 
city of Springfield. 

I always felt considerable interest in Mark Twain 
because it so happened that my father and my oldest 
brother had something to do with starting him on a ca- 
reer that has brought him to his present high and en- 
viable position. In 1856 my father and my oldest 
brother, George Rees, now living in St. Joseph, Mo., 
were running a daily paper in Keokuk, Iowa. Orion 
Clemens, a brother of Samuel L. Clemens, was running 
a job printing office in that town at that time, and 
Samuel came up from Hannibal and spent considerable 
time in Keokuk. I think he worked there as a printer. 

399 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

The firm of Eees & Son arranged with the young man 
to write some articles for publication in the Keokuk 
Post, which they mutually agreed would be worth five 
dollars each. 

Mr. Clemens started out and took a trip to St. 
Louis, Quincy, Chicago and Cincinnati. After writing 
the first, he concluded that he ought to have seven 
dollars and a half apiece for his articles, and the 
publishers met him at that price, so he wrote the second 
article, which was published, after which he thought his 
talent was worth ten dollars per article. As the pub- 
lishers had reached the limit, having already invested 
twelve dollars and a half, which I am certain was the 
first money ever paid Mr. Clemens for writing, and 
which represented the profits of about two years' publi- 
cation of that daily paper, the negotiations were broken 
off and the series of articles ended at that point. But it 
seemed either the starting of the letters or the stopping 
of them had a disastrous effect for, in a short time, the 
sheriff came along and took what Mr. Clemens left, and 
the daily paper ceased to appear thereafter. 

At the present time I have, locked up in the safe 
in my office, typewritten copies of these two articles, 
taken from the files of my father's paper. Each one has 
an affidavit attached showing the genuineness of the 
publication and the circumstances under which it was 
written by Mr. Clemens. They were written under the 
nom de plume of "Jonathan Snodgrass," for this was 
ten or fifteen years before Mr. Clemens knew that his 
real name should be "Mark Twain," by which happy 
cognomen he is now known. 

I thought that I would insert these two articles in 
this letter, but they are such crude attempts at humor 

400 



MARK TWAIN 

and are of such inferior composition as compared with 
Mr. Clemens' more recent writings, that, notwithstand- 
ing the affidavits, some persons might imagine that I 
had written them myself, and after all these long years 
even Mr. Clemens himself would, perhaps, doubt that 
he was the author of them. 

With these associations I have always felt con- 
siderable interest in Mr. Clemens, and when, a few years 
ago, he came with Mr. Cable to give a reading in our 
opera house, I called upon him at his hotel. After my 
card had been taken up to his room he told the clerk to 
send me up. I found him and Mr. Cable in adjoining 
rooms with an open door between them. They had just 
gotten off a dusty train and each was stripped to un- 
dergarments, and was industriously trying to remove 
the dust which they had accumulated. Mr. Clemens, on 
that occasion, expressed his opinion of the railroad which 
had brought him to the capital city of Illinois, in a 
forcible manner, and, between times, gave me a very cor- 
dial greeting. 

Orion Clemens published a city directory of Keokuk 
about the time his brother entered the field of literary 
journalism, and, in addition to printing enough to 
supply all his subscribers to the work, he printed several 
hundred more which he expected to sell after the work 
was completed. It is the experience of most directory 
publishers that if they get rid of as many books as they 
have orders for they are doing pretty well, and Mr. 
Clemens found this to be his experience. The conse- 
quence was that these several hundred extra books in 
some manner got into a store house along with a lot of 
other goods. 

There was finally an auction sale of all unclaimed 
401 

—26 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

goods and among the various lots offered was a large box 
full of books. My father was a great lover of books, and 
when such a lot was offered, he outbid everybody in 
order to be sure that he would get all of them. When he 
got home and opened the box to examine his purchase, 
he found that he had bought several hundred copies of 
Orion Clemens ' out-of-date city directory, which was not 
a very valuable acquisition to a classical library. 

ON THE THAMES 

While in London we took a ride to Windsor Castle 
and Henley on the Thames river. An excursion was 
advertised to leave Paddington station under the direc- 
tion of a guide, and we bought tickets for it. When we 
got to the station we found the guide all ready for the 
people who were to make the excursion, and when the 
train was ready to start we found that the whole excur- 
sion consisted of two, myself and wife, so we had the 
excursion and guide all to ourselves. 

We first went to Richmond, which is a suburb of 
London, and which is famous as the location of the Kew 
Gardens. This is a sort of horticultural and. botanical 
park which is owned by the government. It is a beauti- 
ful place and has specimens of trees and plants from all 
parts of the world. All the trees are labeled with their 
names and the part of the world from whence they came. 
It is used for park purposes as well as a garden for the 
development of trees, and is one Of the most beautiful 
parks I have ever had the pleasure of getting into. It 
lies along the banks of the river and the little passenger 
boats of the Thames enliven the scenery as they pass by 
full of excursionists. 

402 



THE KING'S PALACE 

WINDSOR CASTLE 

I will not attempt to describe Windsor Castle very- 
minutely. I will say, however, that it is the king's resi- 
dence and that the castle, like the Tower of London, is 
more of a cluster of buildings than would be implied by 
the term of castle. It takes about one thousand people 
to run the king's household, and they reside in the build- 
ings that make up the so-called castle. One structure is 
connected with the other, making a sort of continuous 
wall of buildings around the grounds. There are towers 
and battlements at various points, and some of the most 
excellent lookouts and the most beautiful views can be 
had from the battlements and promenades. 

"We were shown through the king's stables, which 
are open at certain hours of the day, and had an in- 
troduction to all the king's and queen's horses. One 
thing that surprised me probably more than any thing 
else was the fact that few of the carriages had rubber 
tires, which are considered so essential to any well-regu- 
lated vehicle in America. Another peculiar thing was 
the fact that many of the carriages are made to be drawn 
by four horses. Postilions or drivers ride on the horses 
and guide them from the saddle. The carriages have no 
outside seat, or driver's box, as is used on the ordinary 
vehicle. 

The young man who showed us through the king's 
stable spoke a rather broad English dialect, and he 
dropped so many of his h's as he went along that once 
or twice I stumbled over them in the pathway, and when 
I emerged from Windsor Castle I pronounced heaven 
without any h, and 'ell with the omission of the same 
letter. 

403 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

THE CAPTAIN AND THE TEA 

From Windsor Castle we took a little steamboat up 
the river Thames to Henley, and I would say right here, 
if you ever go to England, do not fail to take an excur- 
sion up this river, which the English usually pronounce 
as though it were spelled Temz. It is one of the most 
enjoyable rides we had during our entire visit in Europe. 

There were a large number of small steamers, if 
they may be called steamers, for I am under the impres- 
sion that their motive power was furnished by gasoline 
engines. The boat we made the trip on was one of a fleet 
of six belonging to the same company, and they have 
magnificent boats. Each boat is large enough to carry 
about one hundred people, and you can either sit down 
in the cabin or up on the hurricane deck on top of the 
cabin, which presents an excellent opportunity to see 
the scenery as you go along. The crew of this boat 
consisted of the captain, another man who acted as pilot 
and engineer, and one deck hand. 

Owing to the difference in altitude between the 
scource and mouth of the Thames, there are twenty or 
twenty-five locks between London and Henley, so that 
every few miles the boat runs into one of these locks and 
is lifted five or six feet before it can proceed on its 
voyage up stream. "We embarked on the boat about two 
o 'clock and at four o 'clock tea was served, as is the cus- 
tom all over England. The so-called tea consisted of a 
cup of tea, good white bread and butter and some light 
cakes or wafers. When the captain and the crew were 
not raising the steamer through one of "the locks between 
the hours of four and six, they were continually spread- 
ing butter on bread and pouring tea. 

When I was a small boy and was exceptionally good, 
404 



CAPTAIN AND THE TEA 

my mother used to reward me by giving me thin slices 
of well-buttered bread. In order to get the bread thin 
enough for my entire liking, she would first cut the loaf 
in two in the middle, and would then spread the butter 
on the newly exposed surface of the bread, and, then, 
with a very sharp knife, would cut the slice exceedingly 
thin and turn out a slice of buttered bread thinner than 
would be practicable under the ordinary system. 

The captain did not cut the slices quite as thin as 
my mother used to, but he pursued the policy of spread- 
ing the loaf first and cutting the slice afterward. I 
greatly enjoy bread turned out under these circum- 
stances, especially if it is good bread and covered with 
good butter, which was the case on this little boat. 

I always wanted to be captain of a vessel, and even 
in my boyhood I imagined the time when I would sail 
the wide seas in command of a brig, and hang a few men 
from the yardarm every day or place a few men in irons 
and throw them into the dungeon of the ship, but I have 
become more merciful as I have become older, and, as I 
sat and watched the busy captain in his neat blue uni- 
form, with his gray mustache and pointed beard, hoist- 
ing his little boat through the locks, shoving some passen- 
gers off and collecting the tickets or money from the new 
ones that came on, and then saw him sit down between 
times and vigorously butter and cut bread, as though his 
life depended upon it, and noted the expressions of ap- 
preciation on the faces of the well-pleased passengers, I 
still thought what a glorious thing it would be to com- 
mand a vessel, and what an enviable and lofty position 
the captain holds in any place in the world, and espe- 
cially on the river Thames. 

405 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

AYE, 'TIS A DREAM 

The upper Thames is a dream; it is lined with 
many of the summer cottages or castles of the wealthy 
people of England. These places have yards teeming 
with flowers, and about them are stone walls overgrown 
with flowering vines. There are many houseboats 
moored along the banks of the Thames, with porches ex- 
tending their full length and with baskets of growing 
flowers hanging from their eaves. There are hundreds 
and perhaps thousands of little row-boats and small flat 
bottom boats, in which people row on the river or pro- 
gress by punting them or poling them along through the 
waters. The king of England and a number of people 
of London have numerous swans which are seen floating 
gracefully in the river. There are a great many people 
fishing, and every now and then you will come upon a 
party of young folks playing music and singing songs. 

The bluffs are covered with green fields, and cattle 
and sheep graze upon their rich grasses. There are great 
landed estates with acres and acres of forest, and at some 
places on the Thames you might imagine that you were a 
long ways from the teeming population of what most 
people think is overcrowded England. 

One of the prettiest country places on the Thames is 
Clivenden Woods, the country place of one of the Astors, 
who has the questionable distinction of being one of the 
few Americans to renounce his allegiance to the United 
States and become a citizen and subject of Great Britain. 
The castle is a large white mansion standing on the hill, 
with beautiful drives leading down to the river, and 
with thousands of acres of timber land in its wild and 
native state. 

There is a long, straight stretch of the river coming 

406 



AYE, 'TIS A DREAM 

into the city of Henley, which is the great rowing course 
for the college teams that contest with their shells for 
the championship. . The river is fenced off at this point 
with a row of posts connected by timbers, defining the 
course, and a number of oarsmen were practicing in 
their boats when we arrived at that place. 

A ride up the Thames is an experience long to be 
remembered. It is accentuated by historical ruins, beau- 
tified by castles and flowers, and intensified by the evi- 
dences of wealth and extravagance with which its banks 
are lined. It is a streak of beauty amidst an old and 
commercially inclined country, and it is an especial 
privilege to any one to have the opportunity of travel- 
ing upon its waters. 



407 



Chapter XXVII 



IN IRELAND 

We left London, going northwest and leaving 
England by the way of Liverpool. The country between 
London and Liverpool is rolling, is largely used for graz- 
ing purposes, and is intersected by several small streams, 
some of which are almost large enough to be called 
rivers. There are several substantial towns on the way 
and the appearance of the country impressed me quite 
favorably. The hills and hollows were mostly covered 
with green sward, the roads were well built and the 
streams were spanned by substantial bridges. It seems 
that flowers and vines grow more profusely in England 
than in almost any place in the United States, and the 
old, moss-covered stone fences and solidly built houses 
give the country landscapes a scenic effect which is very 
pleasing. 

Although the weather was clear and bright when 
we left London, by the time we had reached Liverpool 
darkness was intermingled with a fog and a drizzling 
moisture that was just at that disagreeable stage between 
mist and rain. 

We were dragged through Liverpool in a stuffy, 
dark omnibus which was over-crowded with passengers 
and baggage, and took passage on a steamer which runs 
across the Irish sea to Dublin. We had been so shaken 
up on coming over the English channel that we expected 
that an all-night ride on the Irish waters would be a 
sorry experience. 408 



DUBLIN 

The boat on which we took passage was not particu- 
larly inviting, as it was apparently built more for the 
accommodation of freight than of passengers. The 
cabin and state rooms were at the back end of the boat 
and the whole institution smelled pretty strongly of fish, 
which seemed to be one of the chief articles which it 
carries. 

"We were assigned a state room which was close and 
stuffy, and near the water line, and so near the screw of 
the boat that it seemed likely that the machinery would 
break through the floor underneath us, as it kept up 
such a continual thumping all night long. We retired 
before the boat was in motion, and after it had started 
and I woke up in the night, before I could thoroughly 
realize where I was, there was such a rattling of 
machinery underneath me that it was a while before I 
could figure out whether I was riding on a ship or on a 
railway train, and I finally fell into a sleep, hardly 
realizing which it was. As the water was very smooth, 
and I could not positively figure out but that I was on a 
railway train, I had no excuse for being seasick, and so 
got through the night in the most comfortable way. We 
got our breakfast, which consisted of ham and eggs and 
bread with exceedingly yellow butter, on the boat. I 
have seldom seen butter so yellow as this was, but it was 
better than it looked, so we got along very well. 

DUBLIN 

We arrived in Dublin about eight o'clock in the 
morning. A little river runs down through the city of 
Dublin, which widens out at the mouth into a bay, and, 
with its breakwater, makes a splendid harbor. The ships 
run between two huge walls of finished stone that are 

409 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

smoothly built, and extend at least a mile or more on 
each side of the river. As the ship moved up slowly be- 
tween these two great walls, I could not but contemplate 
the immense amount of work that had been bestowed 
upon their building. 

A street lay along the side of the river and several 
drivers with jaunting cars trotted along just even with 
the boat and solicited the patronage of the passengers 
who were arriving. Coming to a substantial stone dock 
well up in the heart of the city, we went ashore and se- 
lected one of the nicest jaunting cars, with a good-look- 
ing driver and a good horse. 

A jaunting ear is particularly an Irish institution. 
I have never seen them used in any other part of the 
world where I have been, and I am somewhat divided in 
my opinion as to whether they are an entire success, es- 
pecially for a country where it rains as much as it does 
in Ireland, but they appear to be in general use through- 
out the Emerald Isle, and I would not think of riding in 
any other vehicle in Dublin or Cork. 

They are a two-wheel cart on which the passengers 
sit back to back with their feet hanging over the wheels, 
being protected by an enclosed solid back foot rest. The 
driver sits in the center in front, and while the cars are 
ordinarily occupied by only one or two persons besides 
the driver, they can accommodate four passengers, or 
five, with the driver. The wheels are large and some 
have rubber tires, and they are remarkably stylish look- 
ing rigs. Some of them sell for as high as two hundred 
dollars, which, for a two-wheel cart, indicates remarkably 
fine trimmings and good workmanship. 

Dublin is the largest city in Ireland, and seems to 
be a substantial place. The chief points of interest are 

410 



SOME CHURCHES 

the Bank of Ireland, which occupies the old house of 
parliament, Trinity college, Dublin castle, Christ church 
Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Nelson monu- 
ment, the custom house, the Four Courts, O'Connell's 
monument, the Wellington monument, and Guinnes' 
brewery, where they make the celebrated Dublin Stout. 

There are a number of good stores in Dublin, and 
they sell very fine linens. There are no people on the 
face of the globe that can hold their own with the Irish 
when it comes to making linens, and the women always 
find plenty of entertainment in buying or, at least, in 
examining the beautiful specimens in the stores of 
Dublin. 

The Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at 
Waterloo, was an Irishman and lived in Dublin. His 
fellow- townsmen erected in Phoenix park in that city a 
magnificent testimonial to his worth in the shape of a 
monument, which cost a matter of one hundred thousand 
dollars. On this monument the battles in which the 
Duke of Wellington took part are inscribed in bas- 
relief made from cannon which he captured in some 
of his most famous battles. 

SOME CHURCHES 

The St. Patrick's Cathedral is named after the 
parton saint of Ireland, the gentleman who has the repu- 
tation of having driven all the snakes out of the Emer- 
ald Isle, and whose anniversary is celebrated on the 17th 
of March all over the world. The present Cathedral 
stands on the site of the original edifice built by Saint 
Patrick himself, near the well in which he baptized his 
converts. It is quite a church at the present time and 
has recently been restored by Sir B. L. Guinnes, the 

411 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

big brewery man, who expended one hundred and forty 
thousand pounds or about seven hundred thousand dol- 
lars in the repairing and fixing up of the church. 

There is another edifice called Christ church Cathe- 
dral, which also owes its present good condition to a 
vendor of strong drink, who expended two hundred 
thousand pounds, or a million dollars, in putting it in 
shape. One of these organizations is conducted by the 
Church of England. 

There is one trouble with all of Ireland, which is 
more or less common to other parts of the world, and that 
is the men who make and sell the drinkable goods have 
more money than they need, while those who drink the 
drinkable goods have too little. 

The Irish International Exposition was in operation 
at the time of our visit to Dublin. It was on the 
grounds, as I understood it, of the old Donnybrook fair, 
which is made famous in legend and song as being a 
place where anybody could be accommodated with a 
''rough and tumble" on very short notice, and with 
slight provocation. This exposition, while having some 
very fair buildings, was hardly as much of a show as we 
expected to find, and, of course, did not anywhere near 
rank with the world's fairs that have been held in the 
United States. 

However, there was a fine display of Irish linens, 
laces, homespuns, and other handiwork of the people of 
Ireland, besides exhibits and art works for sale from 
Italy, Japan, and some other foreign countries. America 
was not very well represented and had no special build- 
ing. Canada had a fine exhibit in a building of its own. 
There was a fair display of art in the way of pictures 

412 



TOM MOORE 

and a number of ancient relics and more recent objects 
that attracted considerable attention. 

TOM MOORE 

The one thing that touched my heart more espe- 
cially than anything else was the harp of Tom Moore, 
the Irish poet. It is of the usual pattern of the Irish 
harp as shown in pictures, and not like the Italian harps 
which we are used to seeing in America. The longest 
side of the frame measures hardly three feet in length. 
It is painted green and is ornamented with a continuous 
chain of shamrock. Shamrock is similar to our field 
clover, with very small leaves, and made a pretty border 
around the entire frame of the harp. The strings have 
given way to the touch of time, the enemy of all things, 
and nearly all of them are broken, and, if not gone alto- 
gether, hang loose in the frame, and reminded me of that 
poem by this famous poet, one verse of which reads : 

"No more to chiefs and ladies bright 

The harp of Tara swells; 
The chord alone that breaks at night 
Its tale of ruin tells." 

Dublin is famous for a number of things, but more 
particularly as being the birthplace of the Duke of Wel- 
lington, the residing place of Daniel O'Connell, and the 
birthplace of Tom Moore, who loved the harp and wrote 
not only the exquisite lines quoted above, but more 
verses of poetry that touch the feelings of mankind in a 
tender spot than, perhaps, any poet who ever lived. He 
was a man of remarkably brilliant parts, well educated, 
and had the faculty of writing apparently directly from 
the heart to the heart. 

Tom Moore was probably not the greatest poet who 
ever lived, but in many respects he was certainly the 

413 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

most pleasing and wherever the love of sociability, the 
love of liberty, the love of art, music and song are 
known, Tom Moore's name will be reverenced as having 
given to poetry some of its gems. 

The Irish melodies which are usually credited to 
him, it appears, were written with no claim to original- 
ity as to the music. There were a number of familiar 
airs played by the wandering minstrels and others of 
Ireland, some of which had not been set to regular 
music, nor attached to words, and were gradually be- 
ing lost by not being governed by any fixed rules. In 
order to give these tunes a more abiding existence, Moore, 
who was quite a musician, undertook the task of writing 
words adapted to them, and putting them in permanent 
form. He first played the airs on a piano and then 
wrote down the notes on a score card, then he composed 
verses to go with them. From this undertaking he went 
farther and wrote many other pieces which, in my 
opinion, place him in the front rank as a writer of 
simple verse based on the emotional side of life. 

He was the author of ' ' The Last Rose of Summer, ' ' 
"The Harp that Once Through Tara's Hall," "Believe 
Me If all These Endearing Young Charms," "Lalla 
Eookh, " " Araby 's Daughter, " " Those Evening Bells, ' ' 
etc. 

BALFE 

Dublin was also the birthplace of Michael Balfe, the 
musical composer who wrote the exquisite air that has 
made the lakes of Killarney so famous, and who was also 
the author of that most popular of all English operas, 
"The Bohemian Girl," who lay down in her gypsy tent 
and "dreamed that she dwelt in marble halls." 

If Dublin were not the great town that it is; if it 
414 



DUBLIN TO KILLARNEY 

did not have the great monuments which it has; if it 
did not have the great Bank of Ireland, Dublin Castle 
and Trinity College, it should be celebrated as the birth- 
place of several of the world's most brilliant and love- 
able characters. 

DUBLIN TO KILLARNEY 

We went from Dublin on a very good line of rail- 
way, passing through Kildare and Limerick, to Kil- 
larney. This enabled us to get a glimpse of the rural 
parts of the Emerald Isle. Aside from the general air 
of poverty that exists in Ireland, the landscapes present 
pretty pictures. The ground is somewhat undulating, 
the fields at this time of the year were especially green, 
and the old stone walls, overgrown with vines, gave the 
picture a finished appearance which was different from 
what we are accustomed to seeing in the central west of 
the United States. There are many whitewashed stone 
cottages with thatched roofs, which stand out on the vel- 
vet green like scenery in painted pictures. The Irish 
in the rural districts use a great deal of whitewash and 
they appear to make it whiter than almost anybody else. 

While the country of Ireland is considered moun- 
tainous, and there are many peaks and elevations, a 
good deal of the central part is lowland, and there is a 
considerable amount of swamps or bogs. The mountains 
are mostly around the borders. It is said that if the 
ocean should rise five hundred feet seventy per cent of 
Ireland would be beneath the surface of the water, and 
over one hundred peaks would make just that many 
stony, precipitous islands. 

For so small a country, Ireland has several rather 
important rivers and a number of charming lakes, some 

415 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

of them of considerable size. It is called the "Emerald 
Isle" on account of the intense green with which it is 
usually clothed. I think the fields and hills are greener 
than they are in most countries, but one must remember 
that it takes lots of rain to keep any country clothed in 
bright green, so that Ireland is naturally a cold, wet 
country. 

The town of Killarney is about two miles from the 
lake of the same name, which is supposed to be so beau- 
tiful that 

"Angels stop their wings to rest 
By this Eden of the West." 

There is a very fine hotel at Killarney. It is owned 
by the railroad company but is operated by Germans. 
The Germans and Swiss, as I have mentioned before, are 
great hotel keepers, and the Irish are apparently not 
much given to that occupation. I think the handsomest 
men in Europe are the German and Swiss hotel men, 
and this reminds me of a little incident in which I re- 
ceived, I think, the only genuine compliment that was 
thrust upon me during my visit on the Old Sod. 

The Irish are proverbial for that use of language or- 
dinarily called "Blarney," and no matter where you go 
in this country you are complimented so continually that 
if you believed everything that is said to you, you would 
become too proud to recognize yourself even when gaz- 
ing into a looking glass. You become so accustomed to 
being told that you are such a fine looking man, and that 
your wife is such a handsome lady, and that you are 
looking so well, etc., that it soon tires upon you because 
you are convinced that the compliments are not genuine 
but are made for the purpose of lifting the shillings from 
your pockets. 

416 




JAUNTING CAR. 

"Is particularly an Irish institution — I would not think of riding in any- 
other vehicle in Dublin or Cork." — Page 410. 



GAP OF DUNLOE 

It is refreshing, therefore, when you receive a com- 
pliment that you know is really sincere. This was my 
experience in the hotel at Killarney. As I was emerging 
from the dining room on a Sunday morning, preparing 
to go out with the angels and rest my wings on the mar- 
gin of the lake of Killarney, I was stopped in the pas- 
sageway by a gentleman who said he would like to have 
a couple of oranges for his wife. After I had explained 
to him that I had nothing to do with oranges, he apolo- 
gized by saying, "Excuse me, sir; I thought you were 
the head waiter. ' ' Considering that the head waiter was 
the best looking man in Killarney, I have felt rather 
stuck up ever since. 

THE GAP OF DUNLOE 

There is a very nice day's journey from the town 
of Killarney through the woods to the Gap of Dunloe, 
through the three lakes comprising the three lakes of 
Killarney, by the Ross Castle and back to the hotel. 
Queen Victoria made this trip once, and thousands of 
other people made it before and have made it since. 

You go in coaches from the hotel, pass the reputed 
birthplace of Robert Emmet, close to the residence of 
the grand nephew of the great O'Connell, the formid- 
able champion of Irish rights, by a little church that was 
built about the year 55 A. D., but which looks somewhat 
older and is still small for its age, pass over the river 
Laune, and finally come to Kate Kearney's cottage. 

Kate Kearney has passed away long since, but her 
reputation for beauty and her little stone cottage with 
its thatched roof still remain. Kate Kearney was so be- 
witching that a warning was sent forth which read, 

"From the glance of her eye, 
Shun danger and fly, 

For fatal's the glance of Kate Kearney." 
417 

—27 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

This is the beginning of the passage through the 
Gap of Dunloe. The Gap of Dunloe is a deep gorge, or, 
as we would call it in the western part of the United 
States, a canon. In order to pass through it it is neces- 
sary to hire a pony. You will find at Kate Kearney's 
cottage about seventy-five native Irishmen with about 
that many ponies for the use of tourists. They are a 
good natured, ragged, saucy, aggressive set of fellows of 
almost all sizes and ages, and they make their living 
year in and year out by the hiring of these ponies to the 
excursionists who wish to go through the Gap of Dunloe, 
and incidentally to the Lakes of Killarney. 

This is one place where Thomas Cook & Son don't 
go. There is a rough, irregular road leading through 
the gap, and Thomas Cook & Son, who run excursions 
all over the world, have made several attempts to get 
their coaches through the gap, but so far have not been 
successful. A few years ago they had the road put in 
fine shape and the bridges, which cross and recross the 
little stream w"khich runs through the gap, were well 
built, and, I think, the Thomas Cook coaches made one 
trip over the road. 

The night following it was given out that the fairies 
had come and destroyed the bridges. There is no 
doubt of the truth that the bridges were destroyed, for 
the arches and their abutments were scattered, but I 
think the fairies that did the work might have been 
found congregated around Kate Kearney's cottage the 
next morning with their ponies, ready to hire them as 
they had before. 

This year the roads were repaired and Cook's 
coaches were again started through the Gap, but there 
is always considerable rain in Ireland, and on this occa- 

418 



GAP OF DUNLOE 

sion the driver and passengers found that the rain in 
the Gap of Dnnloe was mixed with rifle bullets that were 
sent down by the fairies that were hidden behind the 
rocks along the way. The first excursion of the season 
was given up as a failure and there has been no attempt 
made to run excursion coaches through the gap since 
that time. 

So we followed the present style of hiring horses 
for the trip, which is about four miles. What bothered 
me more, however, than paying for the horses, was a fee 
of one shilling which I was compelled to pay for each of 
us for walking about one hundred yards over the estate 
of some lord who lived in a big castle all covered with 
vines. This fee was put down against us as the ' ' estate 
charge. ' ' I think that some of those lords that control es- 
tates in Ireland will soon tax every native and every 
visitor so much a breath for breathing God's pure air. 

In the Gap of Dunloe there are several small lakes, 
some beautiful mountain elevations and some remarkable 
echoes. People are scattered all along the pathway to in- 
crease the interest in the trip and decrease the money in 
your pockets. Some of these fellows fire off little can- 
nons at so much "per" that echo and re-echo so exten- 
sively and continuously that one report sounds like the 
discharge of a whole battery. Other people run beside 
you and sound calls on bugles which echo and re-echo on 
the mountain sides until the music made by one man is 
almost equal to that of an ordinary brass band. There 
are many fiddlers and all kinds of beggars, so that if 
you do not enjoy looking at the scenery, there is still 
plenty to interest you in the Gap. 

Coming to the lakes you are served with a nice din- 
ner, which has been sent from the hotel to intercept 

419 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

you, and you take your seat in a long row-boat that is 
manned by four sturdy oarsmen. 

THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY 

The lakes consist of three bodies of water con- 
nected by short rivers. The mountains in all directions 
are very high and very beautiful, but they are deserted. 
There are few signs of life. But there could scarcely be 
anything said about the beauty of the lakes that would 
be an exaggeration. I think, however, the song of ' ' Kil- 
larney" has done as much to impress the idea of the 
beauty of the Lakes of Killarney as their own natural 
charms. 

We did not have a very good day for our voyage 
for it was too stormy and reminded one much of the 
fabled April showers which we are supposed to have in 
the United States. The weather would alternate, and, I 
think, during the day we had five or six different rain 
storms and about the same number of glimpses of the 
sun. Every time it would clear up it looked as though 
it had cleared up for all day and, in less than thirty 
minutes, we would again be in the midst of a drenching 
rain. When we reached the lower lake, which is much 
the largest of the three, there was strong wind and the 
waves were very high. Despite the best efforts of our 
men at the oars, it was almost impossible to make head- 
way against the elements, but we had in the boat a jolly 
crowd of people from Wales, who were quite musical, 
and they sang their native songs, notwithstanding the 
wind and the rain, in that peculair tone which they seem 
to have a patent right upon. 

After pulling against the wind for a matter of an 
hour or so, and making little headway, the men in charge 

420 



COACHING IN IRELAND 

of the boat evidently gave up the struggle and deter- 
mined to strike for the nearest point of land. In so 
doing they turned the bow of the boat, which had been 
cutting straight through the waves directly in line with 
them, so that the waves struck the boat sideways in- 
stead of endways. The first big breaker went clear over 
the side of the boat. There was a scream from the wo- 
men, the Welsh song was broken off right in the middle 
of a line, and I caught an overcoat pocket full of Kil- 
larney water. This, however, was the worst experience 
we had and we soon came to the old deserted cottage of 
''Danny Man," and the rock of Colleen Bawn. 

Near where we landed are the ruins of Ross Castle, 
a picturesque ruin of the fourteenth century, and for- 
merly a stronghold of one 'Donoghue, who exercised a 
feudal or kingly jurisdiction in these parts. It is a sad 
and wierd looking old ruin, almost in its original shape 
and overgrown with ivy. It is the most prominent orna- 
ment of the lakes and is a wonderfully impressive and 
beautiful old building. There are a thousand legends 
that are based upon places surrounding the Lakes of 
Killarney. There are also the ruins of the old Muckross 
Abbey, and other evidences of an age of grandeur that 
has long since passed away. 

COACHING IN IRELAND 

Leaving Killarney on a bright, cheerful morning, 
we took a four-horse coach which carried us, with about 
sixteen passengers, down the west coast of Ireland. We 
came at noon-time to a little town called Kenmare, in 
which there was a sort of public sale or fair progressing. 
It is a small town, made up of stone houses all fronting 
on one street. The principal stock in trade for sale ap- 

421 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

peared to be pigs and calves. The pigs were in one-horse 
carts that were backed np to the pavement. 

They were all white pigs, washed clean, and the hair 
was so thin on them that their pink hides showed 
through. I thought they looked remarkably beautiful 
for pigs, and pigs are not so bad looking after all. They 
all seemed to be of one size and would weigh, probably, 
about one hundred pounds each. There was cartful after 
cartful of these animals on sale. It looked to me a good 
deal like the blooded hog sales in our country, where all 
the dealers and breeders come to sell to each other, 
There were also a good many cattle, but the most of them 
were of the younger generation, ordinarily called calves. 

Our stage ride carried us through some beautiful 
timberland, through glens where the branches of the 
trees met overhead, and where there were great beds of 
ferns and the greenest of moss overgrowing things, which 
struck me as being quite beautiful. Then we wound out 
on the side of the mountains, the road twisting here and 
there, to conform with the irregular hillsides. We passed 
through great tunnels way up near the top of the moun- 
tains, and finally came out where we could see the blue 
waters of Bantry Bay, stretching away to the Atlantic 
ocean. English warships at target practice came into 
view and we could see the flash of the cannons, but they 
were so far off that we could make a count of fifty or 
sixty before we could hear the report. 

Then we wound around over a peculiar suspension 
bridge with a great tower in mid-stream and cables 
anchored on each side of the river instead of a tower be- 
ing on each side of the river, as is the usual custom 
in building suspension bridges. "We came down through 
the hills and hollows over a stream spanned by the 

422 



COACHING IN IRELAND 

arches of Cromwell's bridge, and by churches overgrown 
with ivy, to the little village of Glengariff, where the 
hotel was so completely wrapped in green ivy vines that 
it looked like a great bundle of vegetation. 

As I looked over the beautiful bay, whose waters 
run up almost to the porch of the hotel, my eyes rested 
on the lofty mountains around and the proud ships 
floating on the waters. I thought I had hardly ever come 
upon a place more enchanting, and I do not wonder that, 
while the sons of Erin are scattered in all parts of the 
world, their hearts so frequently turn to the land of their 
birth. 

Taking another coach at Glengariff, we drove to the 
city of Bantry, which is on the other side of the bay, a 
distance of several miles. The waters of Bantry Bay 
run into the mountains in an irregular formation a good 
deal in the shape of the fingers on one's hand, and, in 
order to reach the point of our destination, it was neces- 
sary to follow these indentations. The road, however, 
was well built, and the driving on it was very pleasant. 

When we left the hotel at Glengariff an old gentle- 
man and a young man, who looked so much alike that 
we took them to be father and son, were standing on 
the porch. The old gentleman wore a hat with a very 
flat crown and a wide brim, and appeared to be dressed 
in the garb of a high church bishop. His legs, which 
were none too thick, were wrapped from the ankles up 
to the knees in heavy cloth wound spirally. 

It was about a three hours' ride from Glengariff to 
Bantry, and how long in advance of these two we left 
I am unable to say, but when we were four or five miles 
from Bantry they caught up to us. The old gentleman 
was riding on a tricycle and the young man on a bicycle, 

423 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

each vehicle being supplied with a receptacle for carry- 
ing baggage. They passed our stage and, at a pace con- 
siderably faster than ours, went on down the winding 
road and evidently got into Bantry some time before we 
did. This illustrated the fact that going through the 
country on wheels is not such a slow way to travel. 

When we arrived at Bantry, we found it to be a 
little, old-fashioned town built of stone and brick. Each 
store had an Irish name over the door, and I am under 
the impression that there are a number of Irish people 
living in that city. We found at the station a peculiar 
little railway train in which the first-class coach had 
seats around the sides of the main cabin as they are in a 
steam launch. They were covered with red plush and 
there was a very nice carpet on the floor. On this train 
were several young ladies, evidently school teachers from 
England, who had been making a tour of Ireland. It 
appears that the English require a lower temperature 
than the Americans, and, while we were very comfort- 
able in the car, these young ladies, who were dressed in 
heavy clothing, complained greatly of the heat, and be- 
fore we had proceeded very far on the way, were per- 
spiring like African politicians at an American election, 
and one or two of them had cheeks and faces nearly as 
red as boiled lobsters, but they were a jolly set withal, 
and had a good time on the ride. 



424 



Chapter XXVIII 



THE CITY OF CORK 

At Cork we put up at the best hotel, which charged 
us the highest rates for the quality of their accommo- 
dations of any house that we found in all Europe. We 
asked for a room with a bath, but they said they had no 
rooms with baths, that if we wanted a bath we could 
apply to the chambermaid. When we became settled in 
our room and I applied to the chambermaid for a bath, 
she directed my attention to some big sheet iron pans, 
about as large as cart wheels, that were hanging up in 
one end of the corridor, and said that any time I wanted 
to take a bath I could have one of those basins and she 
would fill it with water for me. This appeared to be the 
only accommodation they had in the way of baths at 
that house. This, however, is an established custom in 
Ireland and England, and Englishmen sometimes carry 
this sort of bath tub with them when they travel. 

Cork, which the natives pronounce as though it were 
spelled C-a-r-k, is considerable of a city. It is built on 
both sides of the river Lee, and ocean steamers come to 
its landing. It has some good stores, some very pretty 
residences, a college, a lunatic asylum, and several other 
institutions, including a very handsome Episcopalian 
Cathedral. 

The driver of the jaunting car in which we rode 
called our attention to the large steeples, one of which 

425 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

he said was built by a brewer and the other by a distiller, 
and were called the Beer Tower and the Whiskey Tower. 
In close proximity to this is a magnificent monu- 
ment erected to the memory of Father Matthew, the 
apostle of temperance, and I was gratified to hear that 
the temperance societies were making great headway all 
over Ireland. This is a consummation devoutly to be 
wished, for it is a well known fact that Ireland has suf- 
fered much from the cause of intemperance. 

IRISH WIT 

We engaged a jaunting car here, one of the finest 
that I rode in in all Ireland. It was splendidly finished, 
was in the best of condition, and had good, elastic rubber 
tires. The driver was well dressed, wore a tan colored 
Prince Albert coat and a white plug hat, and had a good 
horse. We took a ride with him to Blarney Castle. 

The road followed alongside of the river Lee, and 
between that stream and the bluffs. On the bluffs were 
several mansions with spacious grounds completely filled 
with green trees, green vines and green grass, and orna- 
mented with an abundance of flowers. The walks and 
driveways were of gravel and the grounds were sur- 
rounded by stone walls covered with ivy and shamrock. 

Just outside of the city is the insane asylum with 
its stone wall along this driveway and very close to the 
river bank. The Irish jaunting car drivers are very lo- 
quacious and are always ready to talk and tell you good 
stories. As we passed the lunatic asylum, our driver 
called attention to the institution and said that, while 
an Irishman sometimes loses his senses it is very seldom 
that he ever loses his wit. He said, "There are some 

426 



BLARNEY CASTLE 

bright fellows up in that place, and they have an answer 
for you every time. ' ' 

Among other stories he told us that' there was a 
man fishing right on the river bank where we were then 
passing and one of the inmates who had strayed out 
was lying on the top of the stone wall, which we could 
see on our right. He watched the man with the fishing 
rod for some time, and, as the visitor didn't appear to 
be having much luck, the patient shouted down at him, 
"Hi, there, what are you doing there?" to which the 
man with the rod replied, "I am fishing." He was 
asked, "How long have you been there?" to which the 
man replied that he had been there about four hours. 
The patient then asked, "Have you had a bite yet?" 
"No," said the man, "haven't had any bite yet," to 
which the patient responded, "The trouble with you is 
that you ought to be on the other side of the wall. ' ' 

He continued that no matter what you have to say 
up in that institution you always get a ready and appro- 
priate answer. He said the physician of the institution 
came down through the hallway where there was a large 
clock of the Grandfather pattern standing at the head of 
the stairway. He was surprised that time had gone so 
rapidly, and, turning to one of the inmates, asked him, 
"Is that clock right?" to which the patient replied very 
promptly, "Of course not, if it was, it wouldn't be here." 

BLARNEY CASTLE 

We passed two or three villages and came to the 
Blarney castle. The Blarney castle was built in the fif- 
teenth century and was formerly the residence of one 
McCarthy, who was king of that part of Ireland. It was 
used as a sort of residence and fortress, and was sup- 

427 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

posed to have been very richly adorned and magnifi- 
cently finished. When it was finally overcome and the 
McCarthys were defeated and the new masters took 
possession of it, they expected to find a large amount of 
solid silver plate, which was famous previous to that 
time. 

The story is that they found no silver plate. Before 
the surrender of the castle the lord of the mansion took 
his silver plate and sunk it in the bottom of Blarney 
lake, a pretty sheet of water nearby. The location of 
this place was known only to three of the McCarthy 
family, and has been a secret of that family ever since. 
In the long years that have passed the secret has been 
kept inviolate in the McCarthy family, being transmitted 
to only three of the family at any one time, and when 
any one of the three dies, the secret is imparted to 
another member in his place. 

A large amount of money and effort has been ex- 
pended in dredging the lake where this silver plate is 
supposed to be and in searching for it in other places 
but it has never been found, and it is the determination 
that its location shall never be made known until the 
McCarthy family comes into possession of the estate 
again, when it will be brought forth from its hiding 
place. 

Blarney castle is a large, square structure in a 
beautiful piece of ground surrounded by the greenest of 
trees. At a short distance from this old castle, which is 
now a ruin, stands the new castle of the present landlord 
of the place. Around the top of the old building is a 
heavy cornice or battlement of stone, which is supported 
by stone brackets, and, on the lower edge of this cornice, 
is the celebrated Blarney stone, which is so famous for 

428 



BLARNEY CASTLE 

endowing those who kiss it with the faculty of bestowing 
irresistible compliments upon the rest of mankind. 

It is a considerable undertaking to kiss the Blarney 
stone, and it is said that several fatal accidents have 
occurred from the attempt. It used to be that people 
would crawl up over the top of the cornice and, while 
two persons would hold the aspirant for the honor of 
kissing the Blarney stone by the legs, he would hang 
head downward and kiss the stone. On one or two occa- 
sions the persons who were doing the holding were not 
equal to the effort and let go their "leg holt" and the 
victim fell to the walk one hundred feet below, where his 
brains, if he had any, were smashed out on the stone 
flagging. 

To prevent the danger connected with this mode of 
getting at the Blarney stone, an iron cap with big iron 
spikes in it has been placed on the upper edge of the 
cornice, so that people cannot get over it, and the stone 
is held in place by two iron rods which keep the spikes 
in position. The act of kissing the stone is now accom- 
plished by the person who undertakes it lying prone on 
his back on the roof of the castle, reaching out over these 
two rods, which are about two feet from the castle 
proper, as the battlement or cornice stands that far 
from the main wall, and, while two persons hold 
the feet of the aspirant, he lets himself down on the 
iron rods until his lips come under the lower edge of the 
cornice and he kisses the stone. The puzzle is, then, to 
find the two men who are strong enough to pull the 
lunatic back. It is still a difficult and dangerous per- 
formance, as there is nothing between the man who 
kisses the stone and the stone pavement below where 
those mentioned above were dashed to death. Especially 

429 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

would it be dangerous for a man of my shape and size 
so I was willing to leave it out. 

It happened, however, that a couple of young Amer- 
icans who had ridden with us on the stage down through 
Ireland, came along at the time we were there, and they 
were both extremely anxious to kiss the Blarney stone. 
I can hardly imagine how they could have been better 
built for the undertaking, for they were each about six 
feet tall, and, although of slender build, were real 
athletes. I volunteered to hold one leg of each of them, 
one at a time, while each companion held the other leg 
while they went through the fool performance. 

While the two of us held onto the legs of the first 
young man, he lay down on his back, grasped the iron 
rods and reached for the stone, but, as we were extremely 
cautious, we held him about twelve inches too far back, 
and with all his efforts he could not reach far enough to 
accomplish the kissing act. He was so determined to do 
it that he kicked and scrambled and twisted like an eel. 
The more he twisted and squirmed, the more firmly we 
held on, as we certainly thought he had got beyond his 
own and our control, and we expected that in a few 
moments we would have to go down below and gather 
his remains up and get them ready to ship home in a 
bag, but he was game, and pulled and kicked until he 
almost got away from us, and finally smacked the stone, 
secured his share of microbes, and yelled for us to pull 
him up, which we did with great alacrity. 

With this practice, and our experience and know- 
ledge of the situation, we handled the next victim more 
gracefully, and the two young men went away supremely 
happy, but I think instead of complimenting me in the 
urbane manner which kissing the stone was supposed to 

430 



. SHANDON CHURCH 

impart to them, they rather expressed the idea that I 
did not know how to hold a man while he was kissing 
the Blarney stone. 

There is a large, flat stone on the Tower called the 
Wishing stone, and there were two young ladies sitting 
on this and making wishes. What those wishes were I 
am unable to tell, as they refused to inform me. I 
kindly offered, however, to hold them by the feet while 
they kissed the Blarney stone; in a polite manner they 
refused my offer. I think, however, they went away 
somewhat disappointed. 

SHANDON CHURCH 

Going from Blarney back to Cork, we came in by 
the old church of Shandon. Among the most beautiful 
pieces of poetry I can call to mind are the lines regard- 
ing the chimes in the tower of this old church: 

"Those bells of Shandon, 
That sound so grand on 
The pleasant waters of the River Lee." 

We stopped at the church of Shandon, which was 
erected in 1722, and which has a curious steeple, three 
sides of which are of white limestone, while the fourth 
is red. We went up in the tower from which the bells 
of Shandon have so long sent out their sweet music. 

The bells are a complete chime, each note of the 
musical scale being represented by a different bell. The 
musician of the church kindly offered to ring the chimes 
for us, and upon our request to do so, he played for us 
a number of Irish melodies, among which were "The 
Bells of Shandon," "The Last Rose of Summer," "Be- 
lieve Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms, " " The 
Harp That Once Through Tara's Hall," "The Lakes of 

431 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

Killarney" and then "Home, Sweet Home." He per- 
formed very skillfully, and there were few experiences 
that we enjoyed while in Europe that were more inspir- 
ing than to hear played, entirely and exclusively for us, 
those historic bells, 

"Those bells of Shandon, 
That sound so grand on 
The pleasant waters of the River Lee." 

There was a fair in progress at Cork while we were 
there, and we took occasion to visit it. "While it was sup- 
posed to be a general fair, it appeared to me that it was 
mostly a show of hunting horses and hunting dogs. The 
horses jumped over high board fences and the dogs kept 
up a continual barking and howling. I do not know 
how many horses or dogs there were, but I think they 
were of almost equal numbers, and there were more 
hunting horses and more hunting dogs than I had ever 
seen at one place. I could hardly understand why, when 
Ireland needs so many things in the way of industries 
and for the betterment of her people and is suffering 
such extreme poverty, they could devote so much atten- 
tion as this would indicate, to the pastime of hunting 
and training horses and dogs. 

There was a butter making contest going on at this 
fair. Twenty or thirty robust girls were churning 
butter in patent barrel churns. They were working 
strenuously, and about every so often they would open 
the heads of the churns and look in to see how the 
butter was coming. 

As I looked at the young ladies and saw their 
muscular arms, which were bare to the elbows, and the 
expression of determination upon their faces, the roses 
in their cheeks, and the pearls that showed occasionally 

432 




BLARNEY CASTLE. 

Over the window in the front is the famous Blarney stone, held in place 
by two rods of iron.— Pafle 427. p 



FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

between their lips, I thought that any young man of Cork 
could not make much of a mistake even if he shut his 
eyes and picked out any one of the bevy. I was so im- 
pressed with these young ladies that I think I could have 
looked at the butter making contest for the next hour 
and have left that much time out of seeing the horse and 
dog department. 

As it was getting time for our departure, we re- 
turned to the hotel, took our baggage, and were soon on 
our way to Queenstown, where we were to take the 
steamer for home the next day. The next day was the 
glorious Fourth of July which, though not much of a 
day in Ireland, is a great day for us people in America, 
and an exceedingly appropriate day for all Americans 
to sail for home. 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

While there does not seem to be a great surplusage 
of food for the body in Ireland, there is plenty of food 
for reflection while making a trip through this country. 
The extreme poverty of most of the people, their struggle 
for existence, the great wealth of the chosen few, and 
the charms of the landscape all impress themselves upon 
one's mind. Ireland is one of the most beautiful spots 
on the earth, and its soil, where not overworked and 
worn out, is very productive. It is clothed with the 
greenest of verdure. Ferns, moss, ivy and holly grow 
abundantly, and everything seems to betoken a land of 
pleasure and of plenty. 

There is one thing that Ireland is extremely fortu- 
nate in having, and that is its almost inexhaustible peat 
bogs. Every place you travel in this country you see 
people digging up with long spades what seems to be 
ordinary soil, and cutting it into pieces that look like 

433 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

large bricks. This is peat, which, is almost the only fuel 
used in Ireland, and it is peculiar how abundant this 
stuff is. "When it is first taken up it is moist and is 
stacked up and left to dry. As it dries out the blocks 
shrink considerably in size, and when thoroughly dry it 
is ready to use, and it makes a very warm and cheerful 
fire. 

The area of Ireland is 32,000 square miles, or about 
three-fifths that of the state of Illinois. Within one 
hundred and fifty years, between 1750 and 1900, Ireland 
had the most remarkable gain in population, followed by 
the greatest decline in the history of any civilized 
country of the world within the same length of time in 
modern times. The population in 1750 was given as 
2,372,000. In 1841 it had increased to 8,145,000. Then 
occurred the great potato famine, when thousands died 
of starvation, and a great impetus was given to emigra- 
tion. In ten years the population had decreased to 
6,552,000. By 1871 it had fallen to 5,412,000, and in 
1901 it was only 4,456,000. In the meantime the sons of 
Erin have been scattered to all parts of the world, the 
largest number, however, coming to the United States 
to make their homes. 

It is an old joke, and about the truth, that England 
does not consider the Irish capable of ruling Ireland, 
and yet they come very near ruling all the rest of the 
earth. They are a peculiar and aggressive people and 
are usually heard from wherever they happen to locate. 
I might, at this point, write an eloquent tribute to the 
Irish, how their voices and arms are always upraised 
in the cause of liberty, and how their dead bodies have 
strewn the field of every great battle that has been 
waged for freedom or the betterment of mankind, but it 

434 



TROUBLE WITH IRELAND 

is not the purpose of these articles to extend laudations, 
but rather to cover a few things that may be of interest 
to my readers, which came to my attention in foreign 
lands. 

THE TROUBLE WITH IRELAND 

There certainly must be a cause for the wonderful 
depopulation of Ireland. Such radical changes do not 
take place in any country unless there is something the 
matter with the system, and there are a great many 
things wrong in reference to Ireland. This country has 
long struggled for home rule, and that, if brought about, 
would certainly have a tendency to better the conditions 
that exist. But it is not so much a question of home rule 
as it is a question of existence. 

The chief difficulties with Ireland, as far as I am 
able to judge, lie in the land question and the relations 
existing between landlord and tenant. While the great 
majority of people are struggling for an existence and 
are each year being pressed more closely to the wall of 
extremity, there are the other people living in affluence 
in Ireland, and many people living in England like the 
lords of creation, who ''toil not, neither do they spin," 
and yet they live upon the blood money of Ireland. 

Adjoining the lakes of Killarney where the evi- 
dences of poverty are so extreme that you can feel them 
in the air as you ride along the roads, there is a great 
estate which is called Lord Kenmare 's, I believe. It em- 
braces thousands of acres, is surrounded by stone walls, 
is ornamented with a castle, has gate-keepers' lodges at 
all the gates, and employs a retinue of servants. There 
deer graze upon the hillsides as plentifully and with more 
freedom than the cattle do in other parts of Ireland, 
men in knee pants play golf, beautiful women swing in 

435 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

hammocks, swans disport themselves on artificial lakes, 
and sportsmen with breech-loading guns hunt game. 
Other estates like this are scattered all over this country, 
many of which are owned and controlled by non-resi- 
dents or absent landlords. 

Then again, the government of Ireland is extrava- 
gant in the extreme. The Lord Lieutenant, who is ap- 
pointed by the crown, gets a salary of one hundred 
thousand dollars per year, and, I presume, many per- 
quisites besides. Then there are twenty-three judges 
who are paid from ten to forty thousand dollars per 
year each. They nearly always convict, for in the year 
1899, out of one thousand, nine hundred and fifty-three 
arrests made, there were one thousand, three hundred 
and ninety-nine convictions. 

How can the people of a little, impoverished country 
like Ireland, about half the size of one of our ordinary 
states, keep up" the extravagance of such a government, 
and such a judicial system, keep lords dressed in purple 
and fine linen, and pay thousands and even millions of 
dollars per year rental to absent landlords, without suf- 
fering the pangs of poverty, and sweating drops of blood 
for an existence? 

There was a man named Henry George, who died in 
New York a few years ago, who had some theories in 
regard to the land question. He was considered a 
theorist and many people thought his ideas impractica- 
ble, and yet, I am sure, those ideas were so far in ad- 
vance of the ordinary, that if his theories were applied 
in practice in Ireland at the present time, this island 
would soon become the garden spot of the earth. The 
declining population would increase to its former mag- 
nificent numbers, and poverty would be unknown. 

436 



LOOKING FORWARD 

A new law has been recently passed by parliament 
which proposes to remedy the existing conditions in 
Ireland, but, nnder its terms, it will take a long time to 
bring about any noticeable improvement. 

It provides that, under certain conditions, the tenant 
in the course of sixty years can buy the farm on which 
he lives, that is, if he lives that long and can keep up 
the payments, but, as the probabilities are that about 
ninety-nine out of every hundred will be dead before the 
sixty years is up, and the remaining one will meet with 
such misfortunes that he can't keep up his payments, 
it is pretty hard to figure out how the new law will give 
any immediate relief or help the present generation very 
much. 

Still, anything is better than the old system, and 
a trial of the new arrangement is at least worthy of at- 
tention. But if the best lands in Ireland are to be 
turned over in large tracts to absent or even resident 
landlords for pleasure grounds, for deer parks and 
hunting preserves, and all the expense of keeping up this 
luxury is squeezed out of the poor people who have 
nothing to start with, how can there be anything but 
continued and increasing poverty in this unfortunate 
island ? 

LOOKING FORWARD 

It would be well for the people of the United States 
to look ahead and see if we are not drifting into the 
same conditions that have brought Ireland to its present 
low level. Every year in this country there are more 
landlords, more tenants, higher rents, and fewer free 
and independent farmers than in the year previous, 
and it looks now as though the same conditions which de- 
stroyed Rome, brought on the French revolutions, and 

437 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

which prevail in Ireland to-day, unless the system under 
which we are now operating is changed, will, in the 
course of time, prevail in the United States. Not only 
are our own landlords getting pretty large tracts of 
land, but the same English land barons that have 
squeezed Ireland until it is an exhausted lemon, are 
moving upon the United States where they are continu- 
ing the same system that has impoverished that island. 

Lord Scully of Ireland or England, who died re- 
cently, left an estate of three million acres in Illinois, 
Iowa and Nebraska, and on that three million acres 
there is scarcely an improvement that is a fit habitation 
for either man or beast. All improvements are made by 
the tenants, and if there are any that are good enough 
for a white man to exist in, they were produced, not by 
the system -that was carried on by Lord Scully, but in 
spite of that system. 

A few years ago, and we presume the conditions 
have not changed since except that the holdings are now 
probably larger, an investigation showed that the Texas 
Land Union, composed of Baroness Burdett-Coutts, 
Earl Cadogan and a number of other English hereditary 
capitalists, owned three million acres in Texas. Sir 
Edward Eeed and the Duchess of Marlborough, and 
Lady Eandolph Churchill owned a tract of two million 
acres in Florida. The Marquis Dalhousie, Viscount 
Cholmondeley, Lady Hamilton-Gordon and others had 
one million, eight hundred thousand acres in Mississippi. 
William, Marquis Montague, famed in Scotland as the 
"rack-rent" landlord, has one million and seventy-five 
thousand acres in this country. Another syndicate of 
peers has a tract of one million, three hundred thousand 
acres. The Anglo-American syndicate of London had 

438 



A JOLLY FAREWELL 

seven hundred thousand acres in Mississippi, and there 
are many others. 

It is a safe estimate that not less than forty million 
acres of land in the United States are owned by English, 
Scotch and Irish landlords, and the rent each year is 
used to buy more and add to that which is already owned 
by these people, or is spent in riotous living in foreign 
countries. So, it seems to me, that taking Ireland as an 
example and the start the same system has in this 
country, it is almost time for us to sit up and think. 

A JOLLY FAREWELL 

However, it is not my purpose to preach a sermon 
on abstract propositions, but rather to tell what a jolly 
time we had as we went along, and you will see what a 
jolly time we had getting away from Ireland. 

We got into Queenstown late in the afternoon, and 
found it a city lying against the hillside, with the houses 
built in steps one above the other. The biggest thing in 
town is a church on the main elevation, for it seems that 
in this world the people of any community never get too 
hard up to build fine churches, and it looks as though 
the poorer the people are the better the churches they 
build. And now for the pleasant time we had in Queens- 
town. 

"We were to leave the next morning at 9 o'clock on 
a tender to go out into the ocean and intercept the 
steamer on its way to New York. The morning came. It 
was Fourth of July, but the day was cold, wet and dis- 
agreeable as one could wish to be spared from. A misty 
rain was falling, the air was filled with fog, and it was 
so cold that we all huddled around a little fireplace in 
the hotel, which had an electric light behind a piece of 

439 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

red isinglass to make the room appear warm, and waited 
to start on the trip. The steamer had been befogged 
somewhere between Plymouth in England and Queens- 
town in Ireland, and was behind time. We could not 
find out how far behind time it was, but sat shivering 
with our wraps on in momentary expectation of being 
called upon to proceed to the landing. 

The call finally came and we took the tender, two or 
three hours late, and started out through the islands in 
the Bay of Queenstown. The little tender was full of 
passengers, their baggage and about twenty-five hundred 
bags of mail. The waves rocked the boat to and fro and 
the rain came down in torrents. Even standing room 
was at a premium and everybody was crowded, wet and 
grouchy. It was a tearful farewell to Ireland. The day 
was as little like Fourth of July as anybody could well 
imagine. 

Getting out into the main ocean we found that there 
had been a miscalculation in the time and that the steamer 
had not arrived, so we spent another hour or so beat- 
ing around on the waves in the rain, waiting for the 
steamer to come. About two o'clock the Adriatic, the 
largest ship that up to this time had ever floated upon 
the ocean, came majestically through the waves, cast 
anchor and invited us on board. We climbed up a long 
stairway that had been let down the side of the ship, and 
were only too glad to leave the tender on which we had 
come from Queenstown. 

After a considerable time spent in transferring the 
baggage and the mail, the Adriatic was put in motion 
and, late in the afternoon, we passed the last point on 
the Irish coast. It is an abrupt promontory sur- 
mounted by a light house tower of pure white with black 

440 



HOMEWARD BOUND 

stripes around it. And this was the last we saw of Ire- 
land. 

How fast history is made nowadays ! For while we 
eame home on the largest boat that had ever floated 
upon the ocean at that time, before this article is pub- 
lished, two other boats, each nearly one-half larger than 
the Adriatic, have taken their places in the regular 
ocean trade and they make the trip in two days less 
time than this boat on which we secured passage. 

HOMEWARD BOUND 

• 

We were on our way home. As we have said before, 
the larger the steamer the more steady it is, but while 
we were now upon the largest steamer afloat, we found 
that no boat was ever made of such dimensions that it 
could bid defiance to the waves of the ocean, but would 
rise and fall with the long sweep across the face of the 
mighty deep. But there were no storms on our home- 
ward journey, and old tourists who had crossed the 
ocean many times said that it was certainly the smooth- 
est voyage they had ever experienced. We were thank- 
ful for this, we were thankful for the bright sunshine, 
and the broad expanse of blue waters, we enjoyed the re- 
freshing air and, more than anything else, we enjoyed 
the thought that we were on our way home, and we 
looked anxiously for the time when we should see old 
places, and should have the pleasure of meeting our old 
friends face to face. 

It is only after an absence in foreign countries that 
you can really appreciate the true, full meaning of those 
lines, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." 
After spending weeks and months looking into the faces 
of those you have never seen before and listening to a 

441 



SIXTY DAYS IN EUROPE 

jargon of incomprehensible foreign languages and 
sounds made by voices that are strange to you, it is 
grand to feel that soon you will see familiar faces and 
hear voices that you recognize, and listen to speech that 
you are sure you will understand. 

There was an outline map upon the wall. It was a 
map of the Atlantic ocean, and each day at noon, when 
the pilot and the captain would take the time and set 
the compass, they would locate a little flag on the map 
to show how far we had traveled since noon of the day 
before, and where the boat was at the time of the sun's 
meridian that day. These flags marked in a straight line 
a journey to our own beloved home. 

Finally the Statue of Liberty, which stands in New 
York harbor, came into view. The government officers 
in their yachts, flying the American flag, came out to 
meet us and the great buildings of New York, the high- 
est structures of the kind ever erected by man, loomed 
up in the sky line, and we felt that we were near our 
journey's end. And then we came up abreast of the 
pier and, before the boat touched, people on the landing 
exchanged words of greeting with those on board, and 
then stages were thrown out and the people went down 
and met those who were waiting for them. Husbands 
met wives, wives met husbands, fathers and mothers met 
their children, and children met their parents, and 
brothers and sisters met each other, and perhaps there 
were some whose hearts were otherwise joined who met 
each other and some were so glad that they fell upon 
each other's necks and clasped each other in their arms, 
and wept for joy, and many, like the prodigal son, came 
home with a good deal less than what they had when 
they started away, and they were ready to be blessed and 

442 



HOMEWARD BOUND 

enjoy the feast of the fatted calf. And so our journey 
to foreign lands was over, and henceforth would be 
stored in memory, which we hope will grow more roseate 
as time goes by. 

And now, a word to our readers. Some of you, 
perhaps, have had the patience to go along with us in 
this series of articles, on our long journey, and have 
shared with us our joys, our sorrows, our trials, pleas- 
ures and tribulations. We say, with some feeling on our 
part and, perhaps, some relief on yours, that this is the 
last of this long series of letters, but, while bidding you 
good-bye as far as these articles are concerned, we hope 
to meet every one of you face to face and heart to 
heart each day for many years to come, and may you 
live long and prosper is our earnest wish. 



The End. 



443 



SPAIN'S LOST JEWELS 

CUBA AND MEXICO. 

A Book of Travel covering Cuba and Mexico, by Thomas 
Rees, 400 pages, companion book to Sixty Days in Europe. 
Published by Illinois State Register, Springfield, Illinois. 

SIGNOR OJEDA, MAYOR OF MATANZAS, CUBA. 

Senator Thomas Rees, Springfield, 111. 

I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your book entitled 
"Spain's Lost Jewels," which I highly appreciate and will keep 
it in my library as a treasure of invaluable wealth. As I have 
lived four years in the City of Mexico, I can vouch that all 
that is written in its pages about Cuba and Mexico is true and 
genuine in every detail. 

CHICAGO RECORD-HERALD. 

A wide range of fact and fancy is covered by the book's 
pleasant pages, and the author's bubbling humor enhances 
his gift of seizing and presenting the most striking features 
of each subject of attack. 



444 



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